Our Story
by ReticentNinja
Summary: A story of how Ruby and Weiss met, and how they fell in love. A connected collective drabble inspired by Tamen De Gushi. Modern AU.
1. Chapter 1: Ruby, Present Day

**All credits goes to Tan Jiu, the author of Tamen De Gushi [Their Story/Begins with your name] and Rooster Teeth**

 **If you have not read it, then I strongly urge you to because it's absolutely fluffing cute. Honestly, it'll only take like 30-60 minutes to catch to the latest update. It's a collective series of really short webtoons. As a result, this story will have extremely short chapters, hence drabble.**

 **As usual, characters goes to Rooster Teeth. Ideas of this story will be based off of Tamen De Gushi, but not exactly everything because there's a huge difference in character personality.**

 **This story will be written in first person perspective. The title of each chapter will match accordingly to who is speaking in first person.**

* * *

"Ruby, wake up."

A unintelligible grumble rumbled from my throat and I lazily tossed over to the other side. The owner of the soft-spoken voice grasped my shoulder and tried to rouse me from my deep slumber.

"Ruby, wake up."

I brushed the hand away and mumbled something that was far from a structured sentence. The rapid disturbance came back twice as hard and rattled me until I was somewhat awake. I groaned, sluggishly turning over, and the morning's blinding light greeted me first when I forced myself to open my heavy eyelids.

"About time," the woman with snow white hair huffed with a morning smile.

"Gmrning Weiss," I slurred sleepily. My arms snaked around her waist and I pulled her closer so I could nuzzle my face into her addictingly warm body. The scent of mint slipped through my nose, and I sighed in satisfaction.

I love the smell of mint first thing in the morning.

"We need to get up," she cooed. My head was tucked underneath her chin and I pulled back just enough to meet the beautiful blue eyes that I loved gazing into.

"Whhy?" I drawled in protest. "It's a Saturday, and Saturday means sleeping in with cuddles. Then grocery shopping later on."

"I know, but didn't I tell you who was coming today?"

"Umm…" I paused as I tried to recall, racking my memories to remember what Weiss had told me. "No," I guiltily admitted as my head shrunk further into her pillow.

"My father is paying us a visit," she frowned while stroking my cheeks affectionately.

"Your father?" I furrowed my eyebrows. "You never told me that your dad was coming…"

"Oh." Even after all these years, the way she uttered it was pleasantly adorable. Her Atlesian accent still lingered in her tongue, but fairly rare. "I thought I told you, but I suppose it slipped from my mind."

"Weeiss," I drawled again. I brought my hand to push her strewed hair away from her eyes and kissed the jagged scar that was slashed across. "How can you forget something important like that?" I whispered, and my face scrunched up when I realized something more important. "Wait, are you even okay with your dad coming to visit us? Cause you know…"

"I don't know," Weiss sighed and cast her eyes down worriedly. "I don't know why he wanted to see me now after all these years."

My hand slid down to cup her cheek, and my thumb stroke in soothing circles before I planted a sweet chaste kiss. "I'll be here," I assured her. "I won't let him take you." My forehead lightly tapped against hers and I drowned myself into her bottomless oceanic eyes. Promising silver eyes locked onto her blue and I spoke low with a hint of possessiveness. "You're mine, Weiss."

She chuckled and pressed her soft lips against mine. "I'll be forever yours, Ruby. Now come on, we need to get up."

I groaned when Weiss pulled herself away from my arms to the bathroom. It took me a few minutes to actually get out of the toasty bed to the unforgiving chilly room. For Weiss's sake and the limited time I had, I reluctantly threw the comforters off to follow my usual morning routine. After properly dressing ourselves, there was a rap against the front door.

Weiss looked at me, and I gave her a go-ahead. The alabaster haired woman took a deep breath before gathering the courage to unfasten the lock and to open the door. When she swung the door open, an older man stood poise in his white well-fitted suit. Like father and like daughter, they shared the same natural, luscious platinum hair and carried an identical stern expression.

"Father," Weiss dryly acknowledged.

"Hello Weiss," the man politely greeted, unfazed by the cold attitude Weiss was giving him.

I strode behind Weiss with straightened shoulders before the older man. "Hello Mr. Schnee." Whether it was genuine or not, I still gave him a respectful smile. Weiss had told me a few stories about her father, but this was my first time actually meeting him face to face.

"And you must be…?"

"Ruby Rose," I answered and politely extended my hand out. "I'm Weiss's girlfriend."

"Jacque Schnee." He kindly accepted the gesture and firmly shook my hand.

"Now that you're here, what do I owe the pleasure?" Weiss spat with a notable toxic venom that I could discern. Without thinking, I gingerly intertwined my fingers into hers. A gentle squeeze was all it took to relax the hardened face.

"If it's alright with you, I would like to talk." The older man spoke tenderly which made Weiss raise a suspicious high eyebrow. "A simple catch up, only if it's alright with you."

Weiss's blue eyes looked at me for consent and I whispered back, "I don't mind." Even though Weiss and her father had a rough patch between them, it has been several years. He seemed genuinely concerned to see how his daughter was fairing.

"Come in," Weiss relented while huffing a displeased sigh.

"Thank you," Mr. Schnee nodded in appreciation. He strode right in and seated himself on the couch under the two story apartment. "You have a nice place here."

"Thank you, but it's Winter's," Weiss snorted.

I glanced at her and knitted my eyebrows, silently scolding her to be at least somewhat nice to him. Except, she nonchalantly rolled her eyes at me in response. I mentally chuckled as I found her harsh attitude endearing.

"If I may ask, where is Winter?"

"Work," Weiss enunciated very clear.

"I see," he said.

"Not to be rude or anything, but why are you really here," Weiss sighed as she cut to the chase. "Does Winter even know that you're here?"

"No," he answered in a faltered mumbled. "I'm here because I want to apologize." Weiss and I looked at each other in bewilderment before we returned our attention back to him. "I know our relationship had not been the best, and I want to make amends."

"So you're expecting me to forgive you…" Weiss quietly spoke as she never tore her gaze once. "After what you had done to Winter and I, you expect us to forgive you?"

"Well I —," he faltered again, and a part of me pitied him.

From what Weiss had told me, he was an unyielding, strict man that could move the mountains by the power of money. He never lowered himself to anyone because he saw himself as a superior being. But everything that Weiss characterized him didn't seem accurate. He didn't fit the bill of that fearful man she portrayed him as.

"It took you six years to realize your mistakes. Why now?" She gradually raised her voice at him. I could tell Weiss was angry, maybe even hurt, but I knew deep down she was also feeling sad.

"I realized that I was wrong," her father admitted. He watched his daughter unconsciously drag her fingers along the discolored line marred on her eye."I'm sorry for everything that had happened in the past, and I'm sorry it took me quite a long time to figure everything out. I want to make it up somehow."

Weiss paused and looked at him with a blank stare. It was one of those neutral expressions that was difficult to read.

The older man took her silence harshly and he anxiously fidgeted the tie around his neck. "I'm sorry," he apologized again. "My appearance was rather abrupt and it wasn't fair for me to show up now. I should take my leave."

He got up and I squeezed Weiss's hand again, silently sending her a message. She got the memo and released a reluctant sigh.

"Stop," she firmly ordered before pointing a commanding finger back to the couch. Mr. Schnee paused and sat back down with a bit of hope in his blue eyes. "I didn't say I would forgive right away, but you did asked for a catch up." Weiss crossed her leg to her other and folded her arms across her chest. "Before I decide to kick you out, what would you like to know?"

"How is Winter fairing?"

"Ask her yourself," she answered dryly.

He understandingly nodded before he asked another question. "How are you?"

"Great," she shot back a bland answer. I rolled my eyes and squeezed her hands. She acknowledged the silent exerted pressure and she continued to dive more about her life. "I'm really happy right now."

"I'm glad," he nodded. He turned to me with a surprisingly gentle smile. "Thank you for making my daughter happy. I'm relieved that she has someone there, not just Winter."

"Of course. Your daughter's happiness is my highest priority," I spoke without hesitation.

Mr. Schnee noticed the sweet ethereal smile on his daughter lips when the genuine words had left my mouth. "If you don't mind…" He trailed before finding the courage again. "I'm curious of how the two of you met. Of course, only if you're comfortable."

His question caught me by surprised, and Weiss and I looked at each other again. "I don't mind telling him," I whispered into her ear. "Only if you are."

She released another heavy sigh and made a quick glance back at Jacque. "You really want to?" She whispered back in protest. I nodded and she rolled her eyes before she made her final decision. "I suppose we can tell him considering you're dead set."

I kissed her on the forehead, and a pleasant hum strummed from her throat. "Thanks Weiss," I whispered back with a smile. I returned my attention back to her father before I continued. "It's a really long story Mr. Schnee"

"I have spent too much time holed up in my office that time is no longer a factor to be concerned about," he chuckled. "I have plenty of time in the world."

"Well Mr. Schnee," I smiled. "This is how our story began."

* * *

 **Most likely, this is the only longest chapter. The rest averaged around 500 words give or take.**

 **And yeah, I know Jacque sounds a bit OOC since he wouldn't be the type of person to ask forgiveness.**

 **I read chapter 145 of Tamen De Gushi, and I couldn't fight the urge to write this story or resist from sharing it. Like normal, there is no schedule update I follow. I just do things based on what free time I have.**


	2. Chapter 2: Ruby

"Can't believe Yang is making me run her errands," I grumbled as I searched through the many shelves in the grocery store. I rummaged aisles after aisles, going down the list of items that my cousin wrote down for me. The cart was already filling up, and I was getting genuinely concern whether or not if I could actually carry everything back.

"Pumpkin Petes cereal, milk, eggs…" I paused and stopped counting down the list as I realized something significantly important. "Why couldn't Uncle Tai or Aunt Raven do any of this?"

I rolled my head back and exhaled an awfully exhaustive groan before I went back to grocery shopping, or what I like to call it, slavery work. I didn't know how Yang managed to coerce me into doing this. Maybe I could count myself lucky that she didn't live too far away.

"I deserve a reward," I muttered to myself aloud. I went down through the sweets section and scanned through the sugary goodness stocked on the shelves. "Chocolate… Chocolate…" My silver eyes darted left and right as I chanted the delectable candy underneath my breath like some kind of ritual. "Ahah!"

Swiping the sweet treat that was a bane to my teeth, I whistled a happy tune as I marched up to the cashier. Items swept through the bar code scanner, and the total price number marked on the machine sore higher.

"That would be $15.67," the cashier stated. I handed him a flat $20 and he gave me back my change. "Thank you, have a nice day!"

I heaved the two bags of groceries off the counter and made my way to the exit. It was hard trying to stuff loose change back into my pocket while balancing two bags full of groceries. It was probably more efficient to put them away before picking up the bags. But it was too late to hold any regrets.

By the time I messily stuffed the small change into my pocket, something solid bumped into me when the automated doors slid open. An automatic apology slipped out from my mouth when I failed to noticed a customer coming through the front entrance.

"I'm so sorry," I winced before sputtering, stumbling a few steps. The bags of groceries swayed along with me, and I blinked a couple of times to register the lovely scented aroma tickling my nose.

Mints?


	3. Chapter 3: Weiss

"Damn you Winter," I grumbled underneath my breath. "I do grocery shopping on Saturdays, not Fridays."

I shoved my slender hands into my white peacoat and whipped the stray fringes from obscuring my vision. It was a nice day outside but it was a tad chilly. The sun was gracing everyone with its warm rays, bathing the city in its sun light.

It was nice because I needed a tan. But realistically, I don't tan. Atlesians do not graciously tan under the sun like other people. We burn brightly like a nice, pink salmon color or crimson red like a ripen tomato, which is more of the reason of why I preferred the rain. Maybe even snow.

A tiresome sigh whisked the surface of my lips and I made my way to the nearby grocery store. Right when the automatic doors slid opened, something collided against me.

God dammit. Today isn't really my day.

I rubbed my nose to soothe the pain from whatever firm thing I bumped into.

"I'm so sorry," the stranger in front of me frantically sputtered.

My gaze shifted up and standing before me was some girl a bit taller. Her asymmetrical red hair barely touched her shoulders, and she wrinkled her nose in concern.

"Watch where —" I bit my lips to hold my tongue. Winter reprimanded me a while back at the way I naturally spoke. She said that Vale was a lot different in comparison to Atlas. People here were considerably a lot nicer unlike our home country. "No, I'm sorry." The apology left a bitter taste in my mouth. I still wasn't use to apologizing even after these years.

I backed up a few inches to recover whatever personal space I had remaining and took a step to the left.

However, the girl had the same thought and also took a step to the left.

I took a step to the right, and oddly, she shifted to the right at the same time. We stood there awkwardly in silence in front of each other, obstructing each other's path. There was a sense of confusion clouding around her silver eyes. She tilted her chin to the side before she broke out into a fit of giggles.

"I'm sorry," she laughed, flashing the front of her white teeth as the corner of eyes crinkled from her pulled lips. Her smile was contagious that even I couldn't stop my lips from cracking into a small smile. I slid my platinum hair behind the crevice of my ears, and before I knew it, a rare light laugh escaped from me.

The uncomfortable atmosphere slowly dissipated as the stranger's burst of laughter accompanied with my soft giggle erased the awkward social situation.

After a few seconds had passed, the stranger nervously cleared her throat. "How about I step to the left and you stay where you're at?" She offered with a beaming smile still.

"Sounds like a pleasant idea," I replied with a nod.

Her bags of groceries swayed along her side as she took a sidestep to the left. Even though she was no longer in front of me, the smile on her lips never left her face. The natural, relaxed ambiance returned, almost as if the circumstance never happened.

"Have a nice day." Her voice slowly disappeared into the wind behind me.

I suppose that little laugh could be a start of a nice day.


	4. Chapter 4: Ruby

**_Ruby_**

My heart skipped multiple beats. It was either doing somersaults, rolling in circles, or banging against my chest. Whichever it was, I couldn't stop the loud rapid drumming. My pace quickened and the plastic bag crinkled along to the rhythm of my panicking walks.

Wow...

The girl who I had previously bumped into at the grocery store has a really beautiful laugh. It was a melody that I wanted to replay over and over again. Her gorgeous, tied back, snow hair ponytail matched her beautiful blue eyes. She was a lot different compared to the residents from Vale. Was she a foreigner?

Maybe I should thank Yang for sending me to do her errands. Maybe I should do her errands more often. Maybe I would see that stranger again. Wait… Would I even see that girl again?

I couldn't help but to let out a wistful sigh as I continue to dwell on it more. Probably not. She really did have that adorably cute laugh. The way she slid her hair behind her ears and the way her beautiful blue eyes flickered — like wow.

I suddenly halted at the front of Yang's door step and the bags dropped onto the floor when I made an unexpected discovery.

I'm gay.

"Yaang!" I hollered and frantically rasped against the door. "Open up! It's really important!" My knuckles persistently rapped on the wood at an increasing rate. Normally I wasn't like this but I was really impatient. This was really big news.

"Yang!"

Knuckles continued to rasped harshly.

"Yang!"

Now I'm rudely banging the door.

"Yang! Yang! Yang! Yang!"

I practically chanted in loud shouts, most likely annoying her neighbors by now.

"Ruby!" The door swung wide open. Despite the forced smile on my cousin's face, I could see the blatant irritation. Her right eye twitch in annoyance and she flared her nostrils. "You do realize you have keys to my house right?"

"Oh right," I laughed nervously before I picked up the groceries. "Quickly put these away because we really need to talk."

"Oh no… What happened. What did you do?"

She took the groceries and unpacked the perishables into the fridge. The Xiao Long family lived in a comfortable single story house. Honestly, they didn't really need many things considering it was just the three of them. The only thing they needed was that workout room located in their basement. Uncle Tai and Aunt Raven loved working out, and I suppose Yang got that from them too.

"Excuse me." I feigned a hurt look and mockingly placed a hand on my chest. "I didn't exactly do anything." Yang raised a skeptical brow at me and I raised both hands defensively."Okay maybe I did, but I swear everything was accidental." I took a seat onto a stool near the kitchen island table.

"Spill," Yang flat out demanded. She leaned into her elbows onto the granite counter and her lilac eyes burned with interest.

"Do you believe in love at first sight?"

"Ruby Rose," she gasped in surprised. She was extremely shocked because I never had a love interest in my life before. "Are you telling me that you finally found a boy that may have peaked your interest?"

"Uhh no," I squeaked and she pulled into frown. I took a deep breath to sum up the entire event in one confession. "I think I might be in love with a girl."

* * *

 **I figured it'll be easier to have the name above the chapter story, not just the title itself. The story won't always interchange between the two characters equally. Next chapter is Ruby.**


	5. Chapter 5: Ruby

**_Ruby_**

There was a saying that I once heard before.

When you care for someone, you will notice them more frequently. If you're in love with someone, there will be a rapid pounding sensation like a beating drum. Your heart will resonate in your chest, pleading to jump out to get what it wants. Blood will rush to your cheeks when they look your way, accompanied by a loss of words for no particular reason. Only one person will outshine the rest in your perspective, and lately, that has been happening to me.

I knew exactly how it happened and when it happened. No matter how hard I tried, my mind always seemed to find its way back to _her_. It had been already three months since our fateful encounter at the grocery store, and currently, a couple of days since I actually last saw her.

It surprised me at first because I saw her by a stroke of chance a month ago on my way to Signal High. It wasn't hard to notice a unique snow haired girl walking on the sidewalk. She was walking and chatting next to this raven haired girl when Yang and I rode passed them on her black and yellow motorcycle.

My heart jumped but my voice got caught in my dry throat. I could only helplessly turn my head and stare over my shoulders with curious eyes as we drove right by. But that didn't stop the butterflies from blooming and fluttering in my stomach. My face brightened when I saw the distinguishable insignia embroidered onto her school uniform on the left side of her chest.

Beacon High.

A private high school next to our public school.

Ever since then, my silver eyes naturally sought for her through the swarm of busy students going on with their day.

Sometimes she was alone.

Sometimes she would walk with that black haired girl.

Sometimes I saw her waiting outside the bus stop.

And I think I've seen her once in a white car at the passenger seat when we were both waiting for the traffic light to turn green.

It was strange. Maybe creepy, but I couldn't stop myself. I couldn't help but to bring myself to notice her more frequently. She was that brilliant star in my little world that out shined everyone else. People in the background were practically shadows of silhouettes. But her? She had the entire spotlight.

Maybe that saying was right.


	6. Chapter 6: Ruby

**_Ruby_**

Okay, this is it.

Today is the day I will actually confront her; the day I will actually introduce myself properly. I mentally prepared myself yesterday night and I refuse to let my efforts be in vain. So this is it. Today's the day.

"Yang you should head back home without me," I stated. We were standing in the parking lot of Signal High and I was smoothing out the crinkles of my uniform attire.

"Wait, why Ruby?" She held her motorcycle helmet under her arms and cocked her head in bewilderment.

"You know that girl that that I told you about three months ago?"

"Love at first sight girl?" She chuckled in amusement.

"Yeah her! My goal of the month is to be friends with her," I enthusiastically grinned in excitement.

"You sure you just don't want something more than that?" Yang teasingly snickered until I smacked the upside of her head. "Okay — like ow? I have muscles on my body but that doesn't mean I have muscles on my head too!"

"You're suppose to be supporting me!"

We were harmlessly bantering in the middle of the parking lot, and I was sure that we were drawing unnecessary attention.

"I am! I'm rooting for you to be her girlfriend!"

"That's making me even more nervous! See look, even my palms are clammy!" I showed her my palms and they were indeed shaking nervously with pools of sweat forming. Yang took a brief glance and she whistled in surprise.

"Wow Rubes, you really are freaking out."

"See!" My shoulders slumped down but Yang patted them with reassurance.

"Would it make you feel better if I go with you?" Her lips quirked into a smile

I only gave her a deadpan frown. "You just want to watch me embarrass myself don't you?"

"Cous, you wound me!" She cracked her jaw open in disbelief, however, she broke into laughter as she couldn't maintain a straight face. "Okay, maybe. But come on! I'll be good, I promise."

I painfully rolled my eyes at her. "Fine."

We strode towards the nearby bus stop that she normally took to go home. Lo and behold, she was idly standing next to the same ravenette. Like usual, her hair was tied into her signature ponytail and cascaded down her shoulders to her lower back.

"So who are we looking at?" My cousin whispered as she squinted her eyes through the scattered crowd.

"Her." I subtly pointed.

"Wow Rubes, not bad." Yang hummed while her lilac eyes moved up and down.

"Yaang," I droned in disbelief. "Don't check her out!"

"Oh please," she pinched her eyebrows together and snorted. "I'm not interested in your love at first sight. I'm checking out the girl next to her. You know that girl with black hair and a bow tie on top?"

Yang admitted her preference to the same gender a long time ago. She didn't know when it all began, but she knew right away when she caught herself taking longer glances at girls. I was the first person she came out to, and she described it like some epiphany. It took her a lot of courage and time before she could admit the truth to her parents and to our friends. But when she did confess, no one seemed to mind. In fact, they were happy and supportive that Yang was a step closer in discovering herself more.

"Ohh," I uttered stupidly. I took a calming deep breath and rolled my shoulders back to relax myself. "Okay Yang, here I go. I'm going to start a small conversation."

"Good luck," she smiled as she gave me a two finger salute.

I courageously straightened my back and sauntered towards her with a sense of confidence. Okay Ruby, normal knees. Just greet her like normal. Normal knees. Normal Knees. Normal — I stood before the dazzling beauty, and I opened my mouth to restate the rehearsed lines I practiced all of last night.

"Hi," I smiled. "You're tha —"

Blood rushed towards my cheeks and all sense of courage washed away from my face when she responded with a smile too. Though, blue eyes locked onto me in puzzlement when my sentence never finished.

"...Pardon..?" She knitted her brows, obvious signs of confusion.

Her voice was really nice. Sounds so nice, so soft, and so pretty.

But words magically failed me and I stood petrified like a foolish gaping goldfish. Legs were rigid like a wooden plank and my brain reeled backwards. A few seconds had passed and the girl cocked her head and raised a high brow with an awaiting look.

But all I gave her was disappointing speechlessness because I was at a loss of words. There was an uncontrollable fluttering feeling blooming in my stomach that made it overwhelmingly difficult to talk or to breathe.

My teeth gnawed my lower lips. Even her friend next to her was giving me a silent scowl. I opened my mouth again, and as I expected, nothing came out. Not even a hopeless whimpering noise.

My heart resonated against my chest so rapidly that it sounded like a ticking time bomb on the verge of explosion. My mind screamed at me like a distress call. I could practically hear 'Mayday! Mayday! Abandon ship!' because my efforts seemed to be crashing and burning. And thus, I listened. I quickly spun around and retreated back to Yang with a growing hot blush before it got even more awkward.

"Thirty seconds," Yang dryly read off from her timer on her phone. I swear it felt longer than thirty seconds. It felt like I was waiting in line for a food stand, completely starve and fatigue, almost waiting like a million years. "Well? Did you get the small talk you wanted?"

My head hung dejectedly low and I pathetically covered my face with an unnerved hand, hoping to hide the shame away.

"Tell me you at least got her name…"

I responded with deafening silence and my eyes flickered down at my toes, while I rocked my heels back and forth. At least my shoes doesn't judge me for my humiliating accomplishment.

"So not even a name?"

"I couldn't," I meekly answered.

"Really?" she deadpanned.

"My head went blank okay?!" I waved my hands around frantically with a crying whimper. "She has a really nice smile..."

Yang palmed her face as a response, and shook her head in exasperation.

I'll try again tomorrow.

* * *

 **Happy Thanksgiving everyone! And have a safe Black Friday, considering how hectic it gets.**

 **If you don't celebrate thanksgiving, then happy November 23rd!**


	7. Chapter 7: Weiss

_**Weiss**_

"Blake, would you like to come to my house to work on homework today?"

It was already after school, and we were patiently standing at the stop, waiting for the bus to arrive.

"Sure," she flatly answered. She kept her amber eyes glued to her book, reading intently without dividing her attention. Her eyes constantly darted left and right without rest before she flitted to the next page. "Maybe if I do my homework early, I can read my novels."

"Your nose is always glued to your books. Perhaps you should glue them somewhere else that might be beneficial."

"You mean like sticking my nose into your business? I'm sure I already do that," Blake chuckled teasingly. She finally slipped a flimsy bookmark to save her current page before closing her hard cover book with an exhaustive puff of air.

"I meant more studying." I rolled my eyes at her while eliciting a strangled sound of annoyance from her witty comeback.

Blake always acted like this.

She wasn't exactly talkative to begin with, a trait I sometimes appreciated about her. But when she did speak, it was normally dripping with tolerable sarcasms or teases. It was beyond me of how fast she could come up with clever remarks. I thought my snarky commentaries were impressive, but hers were slightly above mine.

It has been at least three years since I've known Blake.

She was in a couple of classes during freshmen year, something I was quite thankful for. It was only Blake and a few other girls that didn't cast me out because of my stuck up, inappropriate, frigid attitude in the beginning of the school year.

When I first moved to Vale, I didn't exactly win the an award for being the friendliest transfer student. The Atlesian bitter personality clung onto me like an evil curse, and drove away my peers like a flock of frightened birds. They could never appreciate or accept my stone cold demeanor along with my condescending attitude.

Right when my older sister, Winter, caught an ear of it, a never ending multitude of nagging lectures piled on top of me. It took quite some time for me to realize that there were some changes that had to be done, and also took me some time to change myself slightly for the better.

After all, it was obvious that Vale was surely different than Atlas by a long shot.

"Hi," a random stranger spoke up in front of me.

My thoughts snapped back to reality and I glanced up to the girl slightly taller than me. The tips of her asymmetrical red hair barely touched her shoulders and the corner of her silver eyes crinkled from her over friendly smile.

Oddly, she seemed familiar but I couldn't place a finger on it.

"You're tha —"

I naturally smiled back as a polite response.

But cocked my head when she never finished her sentence.

"...Pardon...?" I tried asking to see what she needed as I unconsciously raised my eyebrow higher than usual.

She just strangely stood there with her mouth crudely hanging. Pregnant silence continued to drown the ambiance as the girl seemed to be at a loss for words. A brief moment later, she abruptly pivoted and quickly took long, stiffed strides away.

"What was that?" Blake scowled and her lips tugged into a deep frown. "Do you know her?"

I contemplated some more.

"I don't think I do? Maybe?" I questioned myself with a casual shrug. "Not sure, though she does kind of look familiar."

"She looked like a goldfish," she quietly admitted, nodding her head as a self-approval of her brazen comment.

"Now that I think about it, she kind of did gaped like a goldfish."


	8. Chapter 8: Weiss

_**Weiss**_

"Hey Weiss, do you want to go to this bookstore with me today?"

It has already been a day since that weird encounter with that strange goldfish girl. The pen between my fingers spun around in circle with certain dexterity, but soon stopped when I brought it up to tap against my chin.

"Sure Blake," I nonchalantly shrugged, barely lifting my shoulders. "What book are you planning to buy this time?"

"Secret," she said with a smug smile

"Fifty Shades of —"

"Of course not!" Blake blurted in fluster. I started giggling when I caught a sight of a pink hue around her cheeks.

"I'm kidding Blake. I already know you want that new book called Ninjas of —"

"Shhh," she hissed and smothered my mouth with her hand. Her amber eyes panickedly darted around, making sure no one had heard me. The bell for lunch had already rung 15 minutes ago, and I was praying that Blake washed her hands after she had eaten. "Not so loud!"

"Blake." I removed her probably filthy hands, secretly praying there was no bacterial transfer. "It's not much of a secret by now."

Blake rolled her eyes and she muttered something underneath her breath that I couldn't seem to catch. My phone vibrated in my pocket and I took it out to quickly glance at it.

It was a text from Winter.

A smile broke out and I read the delivered message silently to myself.

"What are you smiling at?"

"If you'd like, Winter can drop us off at the bookstore."

"Your sister got off work early?" The sudden surprise in Blake's voice was reasonable. Winter didn't often have many opportunities to get off work early. But when she did, we normally spent it together. I nodded back to Blake, and she continued, "wow that's a first. Well, sitting in her white car is a world better than taking the public transits."

"You're in luck because it turns out she gets off early this whole week."

* * *

 **Anticlimactic** **chapter, but a few more chapters till we get to the 'better' part.**


	9. Chapter 9: Ruby

_**Ruby**_

I made a final scan within the vicinity. My chest fell forward, and my shoulders sunk down.

I've double — no triple checked through the sea of students. They looked liked a school of fishes, mindlessly wandering in one direction after a long day of school. Not a single sign of that alabaster haired beauty was within sight or among the scattered crowd.

"She's not here," I whimpered while I stood dejectedly at the bus stop next to Yang. My cousin kindly waited for me to attempt another conversation with the mystery girl.

"Maybe you scared her off?" She let out a short, amused snort.

"How did I scare her off?" I whined, barely pouting my bottom lips. "I only —" My mind traced prior to that day. "Oh."

"Yeah, oh," my cousin snickered in a playful mocking tone. "I think thirty seconds was enough to frighten her off. I mean think about it. A random girl saying hi but then suddenly stops speaking, only to turn red at every second?"

"Okay okay okay! I get it," I huffed, folding my arms across my chest.

"And I thought you had a knack for talking since you like to ramble on," she quipped.

"Go away Yang," I made a strangled sound of annoyance because I couldn't compete with her witty remarks.

She playfully ruffled my hair, staying true to her role as the annoying but lovable cousin. I jerked my head back, but her underarm anchored tightly. I helplessly limped forward and she triumphantly smirked when I couldn't struggle out.

"Tap out yet?"

"Yes…" I surrendered with a soft cry in absolute defeat.

Even though I already waved my white flag, Yang still held me in her choke hold with a triumphant, ear-to-ear grin. From just her smug expression, I knew I wouldn't be getting out anytime soon.

With the spare time I had trapped under my cousin's iron grip, my thoughts randomly traced back to the girl from yesterday and I barely paid any attention to the line of cars casually driving down the road.

Blue, black, silver and a white car passed by.


	10. Chapter 10: Ruby

_**Ruby**_

"Why does Ruby look so depressed?" A familiar voice spoke aloud and he poked my head to see if there was any sort of life in my body. "Whoa, her hair is so soft."

"Sun, go away." I barely mumbled coherent words because my head was face flat, buried in between my arms.

It had already been a few days, and the girl who I liked never showed up at the bus stop.

"She's a love-sick puppy," Yang dryly answered as she fidgeted with her phone.

It was lunch time, which meant we were allowed to use our phones. Yang was probably playing that Ninja Kombat game that came out not too long ago. She tried convincing me to download the app but I refused to join the bandwagon.

"I am not love-sick." A grouchy hiss rumbled from my throat and I shot up from my depressing state.

My cousin responded with a snort and flicked my forehead. I winced and held the burning sensation on my skin in hopes to stop the stinging pain.

Words had already spread around our friend group that I liked girls. I mean it was hard to keep things a secret when there were a few blabber mouths that had enough energy that could power the entire school. So hiding wasn't an option to begin with.

"Here I got just the thing for you," Sun winked, pulling out a business card.

Curiosity got the best of me and I took it without a second thought.

I regretted it.

"Sun…" I read the business card before I gave him a deadpanned stare. "What the heck is this?"

There was a printed picture of an inviting woman in a bikini. Both the logo on card and the image screamed out scandalous, hoping that it was enough to attract paying customers.

"A massage place!" He gleefully chirped. "Except it's not just any massage place." The blond boy wiggled his eyebrows, and my unamused expression did not waiver.

The business card rapidly spun like a throwing star when I intentionally flicked back at him with full force. However, he reflexively ducked and the thick card rerouted, smacking another blond boy right in the face.

"Ack —" He, unfortunately, took a direct hit.

"Sorry Jaune!" I clasped my hand together with an apologetic smile. He was one of the handful of people that was part of our friend group. "It was Sun's fault!" My thumb accusingly pointed at him, and Sun gasped in betrayed horror.

"My fault?! How is it my fault?!"

"You gave me it in the first place," I presented a reasonable counterargument.

"Umm guys…" Jaune interrupted weakly. He slowly lifted his hand from his wound spot. "I think I'm bleeding."

Sun and I turned our attention back to Jaune. Where the card had sliced him, he was indeed bleeding. Off to the side, Yang couldn't stifle her laughter as she broke out cackling.


	11. Chapter 11: Weiss

_**Weiss**_

A gloomy sigh escaped from my mouth.

The entire week with Winter had gone by in a flash. She went back to her busy life in her work office. If we wanted to live comfortably in her two story apartment, then it was a necessity for her to go back.

All financial support were cut off from my father a long time ago when my sister and I decided we no longer wanted to be his puppets. Winter was the first to leave our home in Atlas for a better life. It wasn't until a few years ago she came back to retrieve me once she was financially stable to provide for the both us.

It took me quite some time to get comfortable in Vale.

There were no maids or cooks to do all the housework. It took Winter a few mouthful of nagging for me to realize that I could no longer have the life I had in Atlas. If I wanted that life, then I was free to go back to our father.

But of course, that was the option I would never consider.

I didn't have enough patience to deal with our father's absurd rules, his ridiculous propositions, and his impossible demands. He didn't treated us like we were his real daughters. In fact, he didn't treat us like human beings. Our father treated us like disposable tools, ready to be tossed at any second.

So leaving Atlas wasn't something I ever regretted.

By far, it was something I was thankful for. I picked up survival skills that I would probably never learn back in the manor. Since Winter was busy most of the time, I did most of the grocery shopping, sometimes the cleaning, and majority of the cooking.

Even for me, it was surprising that I had sufficient talent to do such meager chores that probably everyone in the world could do.

It took me a few burnt pans and a lot of mistakes to get accustomed to the new life, but I could at least say I was proud of myself. I was proud that I could be helpful to my older sister since she was always coming home late from a long day of work.

But there were some things that never changed between Vale and Atlas. Even I had to admit, the apartment here in Vale was sometimes just as lonely as it was back at Atlas.

I strode passed Signal High with a bagful of groceries. It was a typical day, nothing out of ordinary. I always went grocery shopping on a Saturday. Sometimes I would drag Blake to keep me company, but she couldn't as she had something important on her agenda this afternoon.

Like everyday, it was mundane.

But the routine broke when I heard someone calling my name.


	12. Chapter 12: Ruby

_**Ruby**_

 _Hah._

 _Haah._

Sweat drops slid down my forehead as I bent forward to catch my breath. Single spheres of water crawled just below my brows, intermittently dripping onto the cement ground. My parched throat burned from my shortage of breaths, and I straightened my back to raise my arms above my head.

It was a Saturday, the day where a few of my friends and I get together to play basketball.

Normally I was the type of person to do track and field, but I contemplated my choice. More than not, I did enjoyed running. But to be fairly honest, running alone wasn't exactly fun. It was hard to socialize with other runners when the need for air seemed more appealing. I didn't find any thrill to be a few steps ahead of my opponent all the way to the finish line.

I thought about it a little more, but after much convincing from a few friends, my options easily narrowed down to basketball.

"Rubes, catch!"

A flying water bottle spiraling in the air drew my attention and I caught it with ease. I cracked the plastic lid open and drained half of its refreshing content with a satisfied breath.

"Thanks Yang!"

It took me a few minutes of begging to drag my cousin out on community court at Signal High. She didn't exactly fancy basketball, but she didn't hate it either. Yang committed to boxing as part of her hobby. She normally played with us when we were down a player. That, or she was bored at home and was finished with her usual workout routine.

"Hey Ruby," Jaune hollered out to me.

The profuse sweat on his forehead made his blond hair even more shagged than it originally was. Although his hair was slicked and strewed everywhere, I was sure mine was just as bad.

"What's up Jaune?" I jogged up to him before brushing my fringes to the side.

It easily slicked and stayed in place. The towel around my neck was slightly damped, but I used it anyways to dry off what I could.

"I got what you wanted." He was sitting off to the side of the bench and waved his phone towards me.

"Really?"

"Yeah, you said you wanted to know about that girl from Beacon right?" He flicked through his phone on his messenger app. I looked over his shoulders to peer down at his cellular device. He then tapped onto the name 'Pyrrha' on his text messages and read the contents out loud. "According to my friend, the person you're looking for is Weiss Schnee. Though, she's more well known as Ice Queen.

"Ice Queen?" I murmured in confusion, and Jaune nodded.

"She's an international student from Atlas, but she didn't make a good first impression because of her cold attitude."

"Woow." Yang popped up from behind, wrapped around our necks with her developed arms, and peeked over our shoulders to get a glimpse. "You finally got your crush's name, and it took you like thirty seconds of embarrassment and a week of moping. What a feat," she chuckled sarcastically.

"Yaaaang," I dismally pouted while trying to writhe out of her suffocating arms.

I tugged and I pushed, but I still couldn't get my head out of her underarm. From Jaune's expression, he wasn't fairing well either.

What's worse was that we were all disgustingly gross after our friendly match.

"I'm teasing," she continued to chuckle, finally freeing us out from her choke hold. A slither of concern overshadowed her face as she watched Jaune take huge gulps of air. "You okay Jaune?"

"Traumatized remember?" He answered back.

Yang and I laughed while I ran my hand against my sore neck to crane it to the side. It took me almost my whole life time to get accustomed to Yang's bear hugs and playful but barbaric choke holds.

Suddenly, a blurred white stream caught the corner of my eye and I looked over my shoulder instinctively. My metallic eyes broaden and I quickly shoved my unpleasantly wet towel into Yang's hands.

"Hold this for me," I hastily said.

"EW NO RUBY!" She shrieked when the sweat stained towel made contact with her hand.

She impetuously tossed it to Jaune, who in return fumbled with it, before holding onto the bare corner of the towel between his index and thumb with a disgusted look on his face.

"If I don't come back, I'll pick it up the rest of my belongings today or tomorrow at your house. And Jaune? Thanks for the information!"

The metal fence jangled from my harsh grip after I swung myself to a sharp turn. The back of the white figure gradually gotten bigger as my legs continued to take long strides to catch up. I eventually shoved all sense of hesitation down to the pits of my stomach, fear that I would miss my chance forever.

At the top of my lungs, I called out her name.

"WEEEIISS!"


	13. Chapter 13: Weiss

_**Weiss**_

It wasn't a familiar voice that I quickly recognized, but it didn't stop me from spinning around to the sound of my name. I halted halfway through my turn when I caught the sight of a very distinct person.

The stranger breathlessly heaved once she caught up. Her slightly loose tank top hung a bit down from her chest when she bent forward to catch her breath. Slated silver eyes flickered up to meet mine, and that same radiant grin spread across her face.

I didn't know how someone has that much energy to smile all the time. Even when I attended my father's business parties, it was taxing for me to put a single smile.

Nevertheless, my mind pulled me back earlier this week at the bus stop. It was hard to forget such an unusual person, especially when she stood strangely stood there in front of me in silence.

"Goldfish girl," I greeted dryly.

The personality that I thought I had kept locked away accidentally resurfaced, and I mentally sighed at the fact that I haven't changed at all.

"Wow, you have a pretty accent." The girl unabashedly complimented without any semblance of restraint. I astonishingly blinked as she seemed unfazed at the fact that I derided her by calling absentminded.

"Oh sorry, I'm Ruby Rose!" She extended out her hands, only to awkwardly slick it back through her bedraggled hair. She realized my hands were currently preoccupied with two bags of grocery.

"Weiss Schnee," I nodded cautiously. "But you already knew my name."

"I asked a friend." Her honestly caught me by surprise and she continued on with a sheepish look. "We met at the grocery store a few months ago."

"Grocery store?" I cocked my head as I tried to remember what she was talking about.

"How about I step to the left, and you stay where you're at. Do you recall any of that?"

I dug deeper through my memories and my face scrunched as I tried to recollect.

Grocery store… Grocery store...

"I-It's okay if you don't remember," Ruby stammered, gesturing dismissively. "It wasn't something that memorable."

"No no, I do remember," I said in affirmation. "We bumped into each other."

No wonder she seemed oddly familiar. Though, it was even more strange that I forgot such an unusual encounter.

"Yeah!" She snapped her fingers when I hit the mark. "I saw you a few times but I was too nervous to talk to you at the bus stop." She lightly chuckled as she rubbed the back of her neck nervously.

That would make sense why she just speechlessly stood there.

"Well Ruby," I started. "It's nice bumping into you again, and I'm glad it's not literally. Is there something you need?"

There was a very brief and pregnant silence.

"I wanted to say hi…" She paused, indecisive and hesitant accompanied with a shy shrug right after. "And I was wondering if we could be friends?"


	14. Chapter 14: Ruby

_**Ruby**_

Weiss seemed taken aback when I asked her if we could be friends. I could easily read her body language. She didn't seemed too subtle when she raised her eyebrows in surprise, speechlessly parting her lips by just a margin.

"Is that a no?" I rocked on my heels nervously but still maintained eye contact.

"You want to be friends with me?" She repeated, sounding more cautious than normal. Without a second thought, I quietly nodded.

"Why?" She asked. It wasn't an acrimonious tone, far off from being a sharp cutting edge knife. It sounded more inquisitive, closer to a naive child learning something new for the first time.

My head flopped to one side at the silly question. "Well… You seemed like a pretty cool and interesting person to talk to."

"Even though I called you a goldfish?"

"Goldfish?" I thought back to our previous conversation a few minutes ago. A frown tugged at the corner of my lips when I realized she actually did called me a goldfish. It didn't register through my head because I was really caught up with her euphonic accent. "Did I really look like a goldfish?"

I shot her a mystified look, and she nodded.

I couldn't help but break into laughter. I wasn't offended by the nickname, in fact, I wasn't exactly surprised. I had a knack for collecting nicknames for some odd reason.

"I looked weird didn't I?" My tense shoulders eased and the feeling of anxiety disappeared. I was grateful that I wasn't the nervous wreck like I was previously before.

"Debatable." The corner of her mouth twitched, and I was somewhat certain she was trying to fight a smile.

"It's okay to call me weird you know," I giggled and subconsciously tucked my hands into the pockets of my athletic shorts. "Even I thought I looked like a bit silly, so I don't blame you."

"If you insist, then yes you did looked weird. It was my friend who pointed out that you looked like a goldfish."

"Beats crater face." I shrugged and she tilted her head in confusion. "Ah, that's another nickname I got. But anyways... Is that a — Um... No to being friends?"

She murmured something underneath her breath that I couldn't quite catch.

The nervous anxiety was slowly swimming back up, and I steadied my shaky voice, hoping to hide it from her notice. My nails nicked into my skin, pushing down and digging deeper.

Despite only a second has passed, it felt overwhelmingly long for my comfort.


	15. Chapter 15: Weiss

_**Weiss**_

I couldn't seem to fathom Ruby.

The word 'strange' softly murmured underneath my breath earlier wasn't enough describe her either. Normally people wouldn't want to be friends or be acquainted with the Ice Queen. It wasn't the proud nickname that I held and I was sure it had spread far enough to warrant people away.

But still, I put a little thought to her 'offer', actually tempted to accept it. It was quite pitiful, but part of me was desperate for a new friend other than Blake.

So I caved in.

But I made sure I didn't sound too abnormally joyful.

"More friends the merrier right?" I offered my best half-baked, animated smile.

"Really?!" Her face lit up with glee, almost as if she inhaled and metabolized a whole bag of pure sugar in one go. A fuzzy warm feeling in my chest rose from her beaming reaction. "Oh, do you need help with those?" She kindly offered a hand as she glanced down at my bag.

I thought about it again.

I could politely decline her, being the independent woman I am, or I could build up on this newly assembled friendship. Winter had always told me to get out of my comfort zone. Perhaps now is the best time to take a step out.

I nodded back, and she eagerly took one of my grocery bags when I handed it to her. I anticipated a long, regrettable walk of unbearable silence but Ruby was capable of holding a decent conversation. It was a lot different than being in comfortable silence with Blake.

"Want to know how I got the nickname crater face?" She fought back a chuckle.

"It does intrigue me a little," I answered with a little hum strumming from my throat.

"So I was playing basketball and my friend faked before tossing me the ball."

"Faked?" I didn't know sport lingo. My body frame wasn't exactly suited for sports. I did other hobbies that didn't strain my body.

"Oh, like making a faint or tricking the person to believe you're passing to one side when you're actually passing to the other."

Makes sense.

I nodded for her to continue.

"Anyways, I didn't anticipate that he was actually going to pass it to me, so the ball spun and slammed into my face."

My face scrunched and I winced a little. I felt the pain for her even though I never experienced it.

"My friend apologized before laughing. He swore that he made a crater when the ball sunk into my face. Then my cousin got mad, not because of the nickname, but the ball landing on my face."

"That must've… Been painful."

"I was fine… Kind of. I did bruise for a while, not to mention the bleeding nose that accompanied with it."

"A bleeding nose doesn't mean that you're fine." I made certain that I was within her blindsight so she couldn't see my eyes rolling. Ruby is quite an interesting individual. Strange, but in a good way.

She only laughed and waved dismissively with her unoccupied hand. "Nah I was fine. The guy who tossed the ball at my face wasn't. My cousin was furious and placed him into a choke hold that almost strangled him."

"Seems like your cousin cares for you a lot." A smile crept to my face as I thought back to Winter. Ruby's cousin and my sister were just alike in many ways. They just had different methods of showing how overprotective they are.

"Yeah, she's the best," Ruby sighed happily. "We tease each other a lot, but that's our way of showing that we care for each other."

"Must be nice," I murmured.

I had to admit, I was a bit jealous.

Jealous that Ruby had her cousin she could spend everyday with. As for me, I barely saw Winter. She normally came home late at night, and by that time, she was always tired.

"It is," she quietly nodded.

I looked over to her because of the unexpected silence. Her metallic eyes seemed more grayish than normal as she averted them down, her happy go lucky face going somber. I was curious why she was making such a face, but I knew not to wander into people's personal business, especially when we barely met a few moments ago.

Her mood completely flipped when she jumped to a different subject. Once again, a smile rose on her lips like usual. Truly, she's really a strange person.

"What's it like to be in Beacon?" She asked curiously.

I looked at her confusedly.

"Oh sorry!" she sputtered once she realized something. "I'm not from Beacon. I'm from Signal High, next door to your school."

I nodded understandingly to her prompt response. I did recall that her uniform seemed odd during our confrontation at the bus stop. It was no wonder she approached me so casually. The rumored Ice Queen probably didn't spread far or fast enough to the next school over.

"Nothing much to it," I answered with a shrug. "School, homework, and study. That's about it."

"Whaat?" She gasped dramatically in horror. "There's no 'fun' into that list?"

"Sometimes there's fun?" I questioned myself. Realistically, Blake isn't the type of person to have fun. She found books more interesting than outdoor activities.

"You know what," Ruby tucked her index finger and her thumb under her chin. "I'm going to make you have fun! Weiss Schnee, I shall show you the ways of 'fun'!"

Indeed, she is an interesting and peculiar person.


	16. Chapter 16: Ruby

_**Ruby**_

"And what kind of 'fun' are you proposing," she raised her eyebrows skeptically. I closed my eyes and glanced up as I sunk into deep contemplation. "Wait! You dolt! You're going to —"

Too late.

I was too engrossed in my thinking that I ran into a pole headfirst. A harsh bong rang so loud that on goers jerked their heads towards our way like attention seeking dogs.

I staggered backwards and held my forehead, hissing in pain while trying to ease the stinging bump. A heat surfaced to my cheek from pure embarrassment, then I slid my palm down my face, hoping to wipe my humiliation away.

"Oh my god, are you okay?"

"Peachy," I tried to sound confidently composed. "Hurts less than a ball." My sarcasm trailed off into an awkward chuckle. I peeked between my fingers and saw the look of concern in those baby blue eyes. "Is my nickname going to change from goldfish to pole-face…?"

She couldn't stifle her amusement and broke into a fit of giggles.

"No no," she answered back.

It brought a warm sensation in my chest the more she pulled her lips into a smile. The way her lips lifted upward and how her cheekbone became more defined was breathtaking as it is.

"I think dolt or dunce is more of a proper nickname for you," she continued. "But really, are you okay?"

I like the sound of dolt or dunce. It sounds nice coming from her lips.

"I'm fine Weiss. See!" I removed my hand from my forehead and I saw her nose wrinkled. From just her facial expression, I could tell that I was going to go home with a giant bruise. "It's bad isn't it?"

"A tad?" Weiss answered weakly.

How embarrassing. I groaned softly to myself, a strong desire to bury myself into an endless pit of pillows and never wanting to surface back.

"Well," she continued. "I would offer you an ice pack for that swell, but I know I don't have any in my apartment."

"That's okay," I mumbled. We continued down the path while I tried to rub the pain away. "It'll be a battle scar for the start of your fun."

Weiss let out an amused snort, before returning into a small smile. Her small smile gradually melded down and she spoke quietly. "Scars are much different."

I didn't like her somber expression, and I wished I knew why she was making such a face. But it wasn't my place to probe around too much. It had something to do with respecting people's personal business.

"Right here is fine Ruby. My apartment is only a few meters away."

I turned to look at her apartment complex and I whistled in amazement. "You have a nice place."

"Thank you. It's a nice and cozy. And thank you for keeping me company and helping with the bags. I'm sorry about your unfortunate collision."

"Don't worry, I should've watched where I was going," I chuckled before I returned the bags to Weiss. Before she turned, I sputtered a question. "I'll see you next time?"

Weiss glanced at me, and smothered a chuckle. "Yes Ruby, I'll see you next time."

She turned and sauntered into her apartment.

When she wasn't within sight, I triumphantly jumped in the air with a held breath, feeding my excitement further. The muscles on my cheeks started to hurt from how much I was grinning. Without a second to spare, I quickly pulled out my phone and dialed the first person who came to mind.

"Hello?"

"Yang, Yang, Yang, Yang! Guess what?! Guess what?! Guess what?!" I couldn't contain the bubbling joy in my stomach nor feel the throbbing bruise on my forehead. The tingling happiness numbed the pain away.

"What did you do?"

I laughed.

"I'm finally friends with Weiss!"

"Seriously?! Wow, congrats Rubes! I'm proud of you. How did you do it?"

"Well, I told her that I'll show her the ways of fun!"

"..."

"Yang, get your mind out of the gutters."


	17. Chapter 17: Weiss

**I just noticed that fan fiction doesn't modify the last update time or bump if I post two chapters within a certain time period, despite being two completely different chapters and a number of hours in between the post.**

* * *

 _ **Weiss**_

"How was your day?" Winter kindly asked.

It was evening, dinner time to be exact. My sister came home on schedule, lucky enough that she didn't need to stay back for overtime on a Saturday.

"Oh it was eventful," I nonchalantly replied, chopping a few ingredients and before adding it into a pan. Diced vegetables sizzled in the hot oil and an enriched fragrance enveloped the kitchen as I was keen to making stir fry today.

"Eventful?" My sister repeated with curiosity.

"I made a new friend today."

I stirred the vegetables with a wooden spatula, making sure it doesn't burn. It had been awhile since I actually overcooked or burned something. Practice makes perfect I suppose.

"Ohh?" The mention of a friend piqued her interest even further. "Who's this friend of yours?"

"Some girl from Signal," I simply answered.

"Signal? How did you even meet her if you go to different schools?"

"We bumped into each other before at the grocery market." I put down the wooden spatula and turned away from my cooking to face her. "Do you remember how I told you about that rare funny situation where I kept accidentally stepping in someone's way, only for the other to do the same?"

"Yes I do recall you telling me something like that in the past," Winter hummed, lost in her own thoughts. "You were annoyed at first because you ran into someone."

"She ran into me," I dryly corrected.

"You both ran into each other," she chuckled. "But it was an interesting turn of events considering you got a nice laugh out of it."

"Yes I suppose," I huffed. I turned back to saute the vegetables before adding cooked meat into the pan. "But now we're acquaintances… Or friends."

"Perhaps I can meet this new friend of yours, someone not Blake for once."

"I do have other friends," I shot a frown that she obviously cannot see because my back was turned to her.

"Yes yes," she acknowledged, definitely not convinced with my statement. "I can take care the rest of dinner. Why don't you clean yourself up before we eat."

Her chair scraped against the tiles when she stood up to take over the cooking. It was rare for Winter to cook because she was normally tired before coming home. She normally didn't have the time or the energy to spend on tasks that I could easily do, but today was different.

I silently handed her the wooden spatula, passing the duty over to her before sauntering back into my room on the second floor. Like a routine, my blue eyes subconsciously found its way to the vanity, forcing myself to stare at my own reflection upon the mirror.

I grabbed a facial cleanser cloth and removed the copious amount of makeup that hid the thin line of discoloration that blemished my skin on my eye. I sighed, staring at my exposed face. My hand rested against the cold glass, and soon, my finger traced the jagged mark along the reflection.

The scar was ugly, a physical burden that I have to carry for the rest of my life.


	18. Chapter 18: Ruby

**Just a friendly reminder, I double posted chapter 15 and 16 on the same day. So I'm sure there's a handful of you out there that missed chapter 16.**

* * *

 _ **Ruby**_

"Right when I told her that I would make her life more fun, I ran into a pole," I finished recounting my story to Yang. We were in her room late at night, and I was updating the events that transpired today.

The swell had gone down tremendously after icing it for an hour, thanks to Yang of course. She had bundles of ice packs laying around in her freezer for emergencies. For once, I was thankful that she had some in store rather than delicious ice creams.

"You ran into a pole?" My cousin deadpanned. She couldn't keep her straight face and burst into laughter. She clutched her stomach, fell onto her back, and rolled side to side. "I can't believe you actually ran into a pole!" She pounded the hard wooden floor with her hand as she continued to laugh, legs rapidly kicking in the air.

"YANG STOP BANGING THE FLOOR!" Her mom, Raven, yelled through her room door.

"SORRY MOM!" She ceased her laugh and straightened up with fear in her lilac eyes.

Aunt Raven could be a terrifying woman, but whenever I came over, she was normally sweet. To me that is. She treated me like her own daughter, perhaps better, considering she never raised her voice at me. As for Yang… Well, she experienced it first hand of how terrifying Raven can be.

I stuck out my tongue at my cousin, feeling victorious that she got into trouble for her misconduct. But I regretted my actions a little when Yang tackled me to the floor and put me into another headlock.

The pivot of her arm wrapped around my neck, and I could feel her smirk rising from behind.

"AUNT RAVEN!" I cried out, pretending to sound like helpless child.

The smirk on Yang's face instantly fell, and I chuckled with a triumphant smug when her eyes flung wide. Immediately, she released her tight hold and scowled at me for almost snitching.

"So now that you're friends with her, what are you going to do?" She asked, getting back to topic after we digressed.

"I don't know," I answered honestly with a shrug. "Take her around Vale since she's a foreigner? She has this really nice accent."

"What if she's been around Vale before?"

"Not in Ruby style." I stuck my nose high into the air, trying to sound smooth, but it obviously did not succeed when I caught an ear of Yang's snickering. My shoulders dropped shortly just like my confidence.

"So what is this — " she drew quotation marks with two fingers on both hands. "'Ruby style'. I'm dying to hear it."

"Arcades, board games, movies, video games, the beach, and I guess whatever we normally do for fun."

"You sure she'll like those type of things?" Yang rose an eyebrow with a frown.

"Nope," I proudly emphasized my word, popping the 'p'. "That's why I'm going to woo her in Ruby style!"

Yang chuckled in amusement, a warm smile surfacing. "Let me know if you need any help. If your so called Ruby style doesn't work, then we can woo her with Yang style."

"And what is this Yang style…" I asked cautiously, furrowing my eyebrows by just a margin.

"Don't worry about it." A sly grin rose suspiciously on her face, but I didn't question what she had stored in mind. "Want me to drop you off home? It's getting late."

I rolled my head back, casually humming in thought.

"Nah," I replied. "Tomorrow is Sunday. You're fine with me staying over right?"

"Always," she responded with a warm smile.


	19. Chapter 19: Weiss

_**Weiss**_

"Goldfish ran into a pole…?" Blake asked seriously.

"Yes Ruby ran into a pole…" I said for the umpteenth time.

It was Monday, and I was telling Blake the highlight of my Saturday. It was already after school and we were waiting at the bus stop like usual. She gave me a deadpan stare before she broke into uncontrollable laughter. I had never seen Blake laugh so much in my life.

Three years and this was a new set record.

"How did she run into a pole?" She wiped the actual tears forming from the corner of her eye.

"I told her that I sometimes have fun, and she made it her mission to add more fun into my life. So when I asked her how, she closed her eyes and thought about it."

"And she ran into a pole…" Blake finished, face still filled with amusement. She was trying really hard to keep her poker face, but she was essentially failing at it.

"Yes, that dolt ran into a pole." I shook my head, still shocked at the fact that she collided into a metal bar.

"Wow Weiss, you made quite a friend," she chuckled.

"Quite indeed," I mumbled. I was confident that the tranquil life that I have built for myself will crumble down into chaos from just Ruby alone. I couldn't tell it was a bad thing or a good thing.

Our conversation was abruptly interrupted when a loud rumbling engine captured our attention.

From far away, I could make out the black and yellow motorcycle cruising down the streets. The driver wore black aviator sunglasses and her voluminous blond hair flowed freely against the wind. Behind her, a red haired individual held onto her waist only to let go at the second our eyes made contact.

"WEEEISSS!" Ruby happily waved _both_ of her arms in the air as some kind of greeting. Key word... Both.

"Did she just…" Blake gasped but couldn't bring herself to finish her sentence.

"OH MY GOD RUBY WHY DID LET GO!" The blond driver shrieked once she noticed the pair of hands not securely tied around her waist.

I had never seen a person's eye stretched as wide as Ruby's when she unsteadily fumbled around after losing her balance on a moving vehicle. I couldn't bring myself to return a simple wave back as I could only stare in astonishment of how doltish the girl was. I mean, what kind of person lets go while riding a two wheeled death trap.

Apparently her.

Luckily, she dodged a trip to the hospital as she barely caught herself at the tip of the driver's hoodie.

"Sorry Yang!" Ruby shouted in an energetic laugh. Her laughter soon died with the wind when they drove off until they were no longer in sight.

Blake and I silently looked at each other. She blinked, and then I blinked, trying to register what just happened. Then her surprised face soon quirked into spirited snicker as she gotten a 'better' and closer impression of my new friend. I heavily sighed, palming my face as I shook my head in absolute incredulity.

Ruby really is a dolt.


	20. Chapter 20: Ruby

_**Ruby**_

"I solemnly swear that I will not let go while you drive," I stated monotonically as I placed my left hand over my heart with my right hand raised. We were at her house and I was on the floor, knees bent, sitting on my heels before an angry Yang.

"Again."

"I solemnly swear that I will not let go while you drive," I repeated while keeping the same stiffed posture.

"Again."

"But Yaang," I whined. She smacked her plastic ruler on the table and I flinched at the sound of the sharp crack when the ruler made contact with the wooden desk.

Her lips pursed together agonizingly slow. " _Again_."

"I solemnly swear that I will not let go while you drive."

"Good." She nodded in satisfaction. "Now…" She paused and her eyes narrowed down at me. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!" I recoiled from the nagging shout while Yang continued on. "One hand is stretching it. But two?!"

"But I wanted to say hi to Weiss." I couldn't bring myself to look into her eyes. Yang can be scary when she's goes into protective mode.

"Next time you want to say hi to Weiss, we pull over." My cousin rolled her eyes at me, leaning onto one side of her legs with her arms crossed.

"Okaaay," I drew a long, complying drawl.

"But geez Ruby, don't scare me like that. What would your mom say if she found out that you went to the hospital?"

"Mom wouldn't be able to come anyways," I mumbled under my breath. Yang barely caught the string of words and she frowned at my negativity.

"Ruby, your mom will book a ticket to see you. You know that right?" Her brows knitted in concern and her voice softened.

"I know Yang," I sighed as I got up to stretch out my legs. They were getting tingly from kneeling too long. "But it doesn't change the fact that I haven't seen her since the holidays. And I really do understand why she needs to do what she needs to do, but I just can't help but to feel selfish."

"You're always welcome to live here you know — Like actually move in."

"I know, you tell me every time. But it's okay, I'm fine," I tried to sound assured to the best of my abilities.

"Ruby!" Another voice hollered from the kitchen. Uncle Tai popped his head at the doorpost that separated between the kitchen and the living room. "You're staying for dinner right?"

"No Uncle Tai, not today!" I hollered back at him. He frowned, and thankfully, he didn't question it as he nodded and disappeared back into the kitchen. I turned back to Yang and the concern look still hung on her face. "Don't worry it."

I picked up my belongings and slung my backpack over my shoulders.

"I'm going to head home now Yang."

"Want me to drop you off?" She asked considerately.

"Nah, I want to walk home. I'll see you same time tomorrow though."

"Actually Rubes, I have to go to school early tomorrow. I have to meet up with someone. You still want to hitch a ride in the morning?"

"Yeah, why not." I nonchalantly shrugged.

Missing a few minutes of sleep wouldn't kill me.

"Alright, I'll text you later tonight when I'm picking you up. Walk safely." Yang escorted me out the door and leaned on the doorpost as she watched me make my way home.

It was still daylight and it wasn't a far walk, only a few blocks away. Typically I stay at my cousin's house majority of the time until after dinner. But today was one of those days that I wasn't in the mood, especially when that topic came up.

I sighed and tucked my hands into my pocket as I dragged my feet back home.

The same lonely apartment.


	21. Chapter 21: Ruby

_**Ruby**_

My room was pitch black, thick curtains blocking the only source of light and eveloping me with just darkness. I lifted my heavily lids with a sense of grogginess and drank at the lone artificial light that illuminated the dark room.

6:30AM, and school started sharply at 8AM.

I hoarsely groaned and shuffled the blankets off before I sank deeper into the comforting pits of warmth. The stinging chill snapped at my bare skin, but I paid no attention to it. Yang wouldn't have it if I refused to go to school just to lay underneath my blankets.

Out of all the days, she had to come to school early.

I slowly made my way, and passed through the living room after dealing with my morning routine. Like a consistent habit, I briefly glanced at the dusty, old frames sitting on top of the wooden bookshelves.

I could partially make out most of the pictures even with the lack of light. Every frame either had my mom and I, or my mom with a man with dark spiky hair and slight stubble tracing his jawlines. Their eyes crinkled at the corner from their apparent smiles and their arms wrapped lovingly around each other.

I turned away from the frames and finally walked out the door. As expected, Yang waited patiently for me on her motorbike parked to the side of the curb.

"Morning Rubes!" She hollered at me after I closed and locked my front door.

She started up her vehicle's engine and paid careful attention not to thunderously roar it in my neighborhood. Last time she did that, the neighbors were not happy.

"Morning Yang." I yawned and held her waist as I sat behind her.

"Ready?"

"Yep."

There was a weird clunking noise when Yang sped off — cruised, actually — down the road. She always drove slow to school so the blowing wind wouldn't drown out our conversations. I could feel the vibration of the clunk, and the sound produced by it was off putting.

I tapped my cousin's shoulder, worried about the unusual noise.

"Yang… Is your motorcycle okay?"

"You hear it too right?"

I could hear a frown from just the tone of her voice. "Yeah I do and I think it's getting louder."

"Okay, hold on. Let me try something." Yang shifted her gears, revved her engine, and sped a little more. The clunking got louder and she pulled over to the side. "Yeaaah… Nope, not going to do that anymore."

She got off her bike and I followed her example.

"So… What now?" I asked. She scratched her head as she squat down to her bike level to diagnose the problem. "Should we call your dad?"

"You crazy?" Yang looked at me with a flabbergasted, perplexed expression. "Have you seen him try to repair things?"

One time Uncle Tai tried repairing the bathroom toilet. Needless to say, the house was completely flooded, and thank god Yang and I knew better not to go swimming in there. Who knows what _brown_ surprise we could've found lurking in the waters.

Then there was another time where Uncle Tai tried repairing her bike before. He used a boat load of duct tape. The number of wraps he did hid the motorcycle's original color to the point that all we could see was duct tape. The handle had duct tape. The seat had duct tape. For some reason, even the wheels had duct tape. Whatever was not damaged had duct tape.

"Yeah… Good point," I chuckled.

"I'm going to make a call to get it tolled and fixed." Yang unbent her knees as she stood up.

"Wait what about your meeting with your friend?" I cocked my head at her.

"I'll probably have to reschedule." Her shoulders slumped down and she heavily sighed. "You can head to school without me. Let our teachers know that I'm coming late."

"Are you sure? I could always wait with you," I asked with a bit of hope in my eyes.

"So you can have an excuse to ditch class?" She scoffed with a smile and rolled her eyes. "Go to school."

Her remark had no bite and I simply huffed, unconsciously pouting my lower lips when she gave me a light shove.

"Aww fine. I'll see you later then."

I waved at her before I turned around to head off. It's been awhile since I last walked to school. From where we stopped at, it wasn't a far walk, so I wasn't complaining.

As I continued on the path, the sidewalk was getting slightly crowded. More students appeared from different intersections, but even so, I could distinguish a platinum ponytail swaying side to side. She was further up ahead, but the distance and the number of people between us didn't discourage me.

Instead, I smiled a toothy grin and quickened my leisurely pace.


	22. Chapter 22: Weiss

_**Weiss**_

"Hey Weiss!"

My breath hitched and my shoulders rapidly jerked up to the startling sound. Ruby appeared from thin air right in front of me, and began backpedaling slowly with a cheerful smile. Her hands innocently clasped behind her back and she donned her Signal High uniform.

"Ruby!" I shrieked a little at the sudden, unexpected greeting. "Don't scare me like that!"

My heart raced and I rested my hand against it to slow its beating rhythm. I sighed, releasing out a shaky breath that I held, and managed to restrain myself from shooting a stern, harsh look that I was well known for. Ruby lightheartedly giggled, and I thoughtfully shifted more to the side to give her enough space to walk besides me.

"Sorry Weiss. I didn't think you'll be frightened so easily." She turned from her backpedaling and returned to walking normally. Her hands settled onto the straps of her crimson backpack and she began to walk at my pace.

"I believe anyone would be scared if someone were to appear from nowhere."

"I couldn't help it." She unabashedly grin. "I saw you and I had to say hi. So here I am!

She giggled again, lips parting and cheeks stretching from her overjoyed expression. Barely a few days had passed since we marked our friendship, and I found her presence surprisingly... Comforting.

"You did the same yesterday," I scolded as I recalled Monday's mishap. "You saw me and you had to say hi, except you were on a moving vehicle! You should be more careful!"

"I couldn't help it?" She unabashedly grinned again, weakly shrugging like some excuse. "You didn't say hi back! After all the trouble I've went through to wave."

"I'm not sure how to properly greet you when your antics rendered me speechless."

Then she looked at me, her shoulders rounded and her bottom lips protruded.

Did Ruby just…?

Her metallic eyes widened a little and they glistened under the sunlight.

Is she…?

Her eyebrows pinched together and her head tilted slightly downward.

Oh no… It's the puppy face.

"But Weeeiss."

God dammit, she looks like a kicked puppy.

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. "I'll say hi next time dolt. Just don't do that again."

She did a little skip in her walk and gave me a toothy grin. I wasn't sure how someone could be so energetic early in the morning. Maybe she was a morning person?

"Do you always walk to school around this time?" She asked, her excitement finally understood what it means to be composed, and she gave me a face of curiousity.

"Like a routine," I answered. Ruby hummed and nodded along. "Though I find it interesting that we bumped into each other today. Since I saw you on your friend's motorcycle yesterday, I figured that death trap would be your transportation there and back from school."

"Friend?" Ruby tilted her head before she cupped her chin. "Ohh!" She then snapped her finger and lit up like a lightbulb. "That's my cousin! The blond one right?" I nodded my head and she laughed. "Yeah, that's my cousin!"

"I'm surprised your cousin would allow you to do something dangerous like yesterday."

"Yeaaah…" She trailed off unconfidently before she hung her head in defeat. "No, I got in trouble for that. But!" Her head then shot up cheerfully. "The positive thing is that I'm still in one piece!"

She twirled around for me to see. I was surprised that she didn't trip over her foot or something considering how much of a dolt she was.

"Anyways," she continued. "My cousin's motorcycle kind of broke down earlier this morning. So now, here I am." She shrugged. "I don't know when it's getting fixed, but I hope you don't mind me walking with you."

"I don't mind at all," I responded. "I like to have company whenever I walk."


	23. Chapter 23: Ruby

_**Ruby**_

Sombre grey clouds loomed over what was once blue skies. They were accumulating in thick blankets and hung low above the city. The whispering wind was gradually picking up, and the temperature was slowly dropping.

"My bike is still in the shop and now it's going to rain." Yang slumped over as she watched specks of water now falling from the sky. Small pellets of water dropped down even faster until it essentially blinded our sight. "My hair is going to get disgustingly wet too."

It's been a couple of days since Yang's bike kind of broke down on us. Yang and I stood outside, helplessly under the school's infrastructure. Puddles of rain water were beginning to form and the soft pitter-patter was growing louder.

I glanced up to the asphalt colored sky that rivaled my eyes and wistfully sighed. I wasn't sure if I could bump into Weiss on my way back home. All I could see was an endless ocean of colorful umbrellas bursting open. It'll be impossible to find an alabaster haired girl walking within the crowd.

But I guess I shouldn't complain.

Ever since my cousin's bike was in the shop, I've been leaving earlier for school just to run into Weiss along the way.

But of course our coincidence was never a coincidence; it was strategically and carefully planned.

I was never a morning person, but I was willing to sacrifice my sleep just to see her. It was well worth it. I asked Yang if she wanted to accompany me, but she refuses to wake up so early in the morning unless she was required to. She said she needed all the beauty sleep she can get.

Ironically, Yang was never the type to sleep and wake up gracefully.

"Hey you guys are still here?" Sun came through the front entrance and stood by our side. "Wow," he whistled. "It's raining a lot."

"Yeah," I grunted. "And we both don't have an umbrella." I turned to Yang. Her face was slightly pale and I could barely make out what nonsense she was whispering underneath her breath. Something about how she'll look like a drowned lion.

"You guys want to borrow my umbrella?" He offered his folded yellow umbrella to us, the color surprisingly matched perfectly with his hair.

"YES," Yang blurted out in desperation. She quickly snatched the umbrella from his hands.

"Thanks Sun," I chuckled, appreciating his act of kindness. I watched Yang happily fumbled with it. "Are you sure you don't need it?"

"I'm positive," he casually waved me off with a smile. "A friend of mine gave me that many months ago. I left it in my locker, but then it got jammed shut cause they're so old. I finally got it opened just now, and currently, Jaune is asking me how I got mine to open because his locker is jammed shut."

"Thanks Sun," Yang grinned excitedly. "I'll be sure —" She snapped open his umbrella, but stopped midway in her sentence. In big capital letters, 'I like you' was neatly written on the inside of the umbrella.

The three of us paused when we read the three words.

Then… The gears in our heads gyrated.

Someone confessed to Sun.

We blankly stared at the big, bolded words.

Someone confessed to Sun.

Sweet Jesus,

Someone confessed to Sun.

Yang and I slowly turned, taking puzzled double-takes between Sun and the confession written inside the umbrella. It was easy to read our friend's mind because I was absolutely positive there was nothing in there. His mind was just as blank as his face since I was sure he was having a hard time processing everything. His mouth was oafishly ajar, and his wide eyes scrunched together in shock.

"On second thought… You can have your umbrella back, Sun."


	24. Chapter 24: Weiss

_**Weiss**_

I love the rain.

The hammering sound of raindrops had its own tune. It reminded me the time in Atlas when I used to sing along to the piano, to the violin, and to many other instruments. It was the only hobby that I still had passion for. There was another hobby that I used to do on my free time, but that turned into a living nightmare. Eventually, that nightmare faded into an unforgotten bad memory.

I hummed to the raindrops as it splashed against the floor. Despite how bleak and dreary the skies looked, each drop invoked a sense of melody and calmness. I could easily hum to its rhythm, to its musical note. It was peaceful, and it was relaxing.

"Hey Weiss, you can head out first. I'm going to stay back a little bit. I think I'm going to wait it out and see if the rain will lighten up," Blake said as her amber eyes flickered towards the grey skies.

She stood under Beacon's infrastructure, safely dried and away from the pouring rain. She held out her hand and allowed the pellets of water splash onto her skin. She shivered and withdrew her arm like a frightened turtle.

"Are you sure?" I asked in concern. Unlike me, Blake hated the rain. Throw her out into the soaking weather, and she would probably hiss and retreat like a feline cat.

"I'm positive," she nodded.

"Suit yourself." I shrugged and snapped open my sky blue umbrella.

I stepped away from the building and into the open. The sound of heavy pitter patter resonated against my umbrella as droplets of water fell onto it. I contently hummed along to the sound and made my way towards the middle of the campus.

Raindrops thrummed from above.

The constant melody eventually dulled, so I lightly twirled my umbrella to compose a different musical note. The pitch was higher, a lot different than just holding my parasol still. I twirled a little more to adjust the frequency, and the pattering raindrops reached a new octave. I kept twirling and humming, deeply lost into my orchestra.

"Miss Schnee."

A non-composer joined my tune, her voice syncing inharmoniously. I cringed as the singer inside of me shuddered at the discordant sound, but I managed to disregard it.

"Miss Schnee."

My melody untuned and I tried to restore it.

"Miss Schnee."

I couldn't ignore the dissonance any longer when my melody came crashing. I forced myself to snap away from my musical masterpiece, and I realized a blond, poise woman wearing glasses was standing in front of me with a deadpan stare. Splats of water covered her glasses, her face, and some parts of her clothes.

I finally made a connection and stopped twirling my umbrella. Splatters of water stopped smacking ridicuously onto the teacher's face and I apologetically lowered my head.

"Sorry Ms. Goodwitch…"


	25. Chapter 25: Ruby

_**Ruby**_

I hate the rain.

Yang and I were running through the downpour like idiots. She had a backpack over her head, uselessly protecting her hair from the vicious rain. I didn't bother to shield myself from the flood. My feet were feeling heavier by the moment because my shoes were collecting pools of water. Not only that, but I also could feel the sinful, squishing sensation of my wet socks.

"Why are we running again?" I yelled at Yang to make sure she could hear me through the tremendous rainfall.

"The faster we run, the less my hair gets wet," Yang hollered back.

"That doesn't even make sense! Your hair is already wet!"

"Just keep running!" She rolled her eyes at me, and I groaned.

My clothes were soaked through and through, but I was glad that Signal uniforms were not colored white. Much of Yang was less soaked in comparison to me, but her hair was still kind of a mess. Lucky for me, my hair was easy to tame and doesn't get extremely fizzy like hers.

"Hey isn't that your friend Weiss?" My cousin pointed over to the one and only Weiss Schnee who was holding a sky blue umbrella. She stood near the curb waiting for the right time to cross the street.

"Ohh it is!" I grinned, excited and wondered what were the chances of seeing Weiss afterschool today. I looked at Yang for approval to go over despite the downpour and she rolled her eyes, motioning her head as she granted me permission.

My sappy grin grew wider and Yang stayed quietly on my heels as I approached Weiss. The constant pattering of the rain made it easy to sneak up to her. Despite how Weiss scolded me about the last time I startled her, I still did it anyways.


	26. Chapter 26: Weiss

_**Weiss**_

"Hi Weiss."

My breath hitched and I jolted back from the startling sound of my name. The sharp, happy voice was familiar, and the culprit of the said voice slid past my shoulder with a dopey smile. She waved at me while the glued strands of her asymmetrical red hair fell past her shoulders.

The one and only, Ruby Rose.

"Ruby!" I hissed. "What did I tell you about scaring me!"

"Sorry," she laughed. Her infectious smile made it a challenge for me to maintain a scolding face. "I know you said not to, but I couldn't help it."

I swear that she'll give me a heart attack one day.

"Forgive me?" Now her lips innocently pushed forward, and her head happened to be tilted already.

Oh no… She's making that face again.

Ruby's eyes widened a little and the rain on her face did not make it any better for me.

She's totally making that face again. Arrrgh — A Schnee must not bend! A Schnee will never bend no matter what.

"You are forgiven," I caved in.

God dammit.

The blond girl next to her, which I presume must be her cousin, snickered. Her hair was more bedraggled than Ruby to the point that she almost looked like a drowned lion. The blond hair lost its usual vibrant color as it surrendered to the unforgiving rain.

"Oh Weiss, let me introduce you to Yang, my cousin." Ruby finally remembered her manner as the light chuckle reminded her of her cousin's presence. "Weiss meet Yang." She politely gestured to the unfortunate, drowned lion before motioning back to me. "Yang meet Weiss."

"Nice to meet you Weiss," she smiled at me, saluting me with two fingers

"Likewise," I nodded, kindly presenting my friendly smile. Yang slowly blinked as she registered what I just had said, and finally broke into laughter. I frowned when I realized why. "No pun intended."

"Hey Rubes! I like her already!" The drenched lion continued roaring her laughter.

I rolled my eyes at her, and exaggerated a sigh to fight off the quirking smile. "I'm guessing you two were not prepared to bring an umbrella today?"

"Nope," Ruby popped the 'p' very proudly. "We kind of —"

Her sentence was cut short but I still picked up an alerted 'watch out' from her. Before a car passed by, she swiftly snatched the umbrella from my hands and pulled me closer to the point of negative distance between us. The car skidded through the puddle of water collecting near the curb and ripped a small tidal wave.

However, the feeling of being completely doused never came. Ruby was reflexive enough to block the incoming water with my umbrella. I could feel her hand pressed against my back, her damp uniform pressed against my dried ones, her dripping wet hair tickling my cheek, and my uncomfortable sodden socks that got caught in the aftermath.

But all of these were the least of my concerns as I was more drawn to the thrumming sound between the protective parasol and the water. What used to be a dull melody blended together with this weird pulsating sound. I could hear it through my ears and feel it through my body.

It made a strange but pleasant melody, something that was beyond my comprehension.

Then, there was a faint aroma of roses accompanied with it.


	27. Chapter 27: Ruby

**_Ruby_**

"Geez," I growled in annoyance. "People need to pay attention when they drive."

I shifted back the umbrella over our heads to protect us from the drizzling rain. I let out a relieved sigh, glad that I saw the car coming before we were all mutually soaked head to toe.

"You okay Weiss?" I looked back at her with worry when I pulled her away from me.

She quietly nodded her head and I looked at Yang over my shoulders. I didn't have the courage to ask if my cousin was okay or not because the question got stuck in my throat. Yang was soaked thoroughly as she fell victim to the tidal wave. An unpleasant frown hung her face, and she slicked her bangs back.

I was hoping that she would wipe the frown off her face when she slicked her hair, but it still lingered.

"Sorry Yang," I repressed a laugh.

She looked like a drowned lion. Her hair could pull off a mane since her golden locks were glued around her face. I could see droplets of water streaming down from each strand of hair, plunging towards the floor by the works of gravity.

"I'll buy you something from the grocery store on the way back to make it up." I apologetically smiled.

Yang's face remained stoic until it slowly crooked into a grin. Now I knew my cousin for a fairly long time, so I knew that look. It was a look of an emerging fantastic idea, which sometimes could be frightening.

"Hey Weiss," Yang called out, arms huddled across her chest. From what I could tell, she was trying to cling to whatever warmth she can get. "Do you mind if we hitch a ride under your umbrella to the convenience store?"

"Not at all," she answered.

Despite how Yang asked her to hitch a ride under her umbrella, it was never designed to fit three people. But somehow, we kind of made it work. Keyword: kind of. Majority of our body was in the rain since we didn't want to squeeze Weiss right in the middle. She was slim, but three people under one umbrella wasn't exactly the life of a king.

The store wasn't a far walk. By the time we were inside, Yang and I were collectively forming a puddle. Weiss quickly excused herself as she went to the aisles in the store. I quickly turned to Yang as it seems like a perfect opportunity to confront her.

"What are you up to?" I boldly asked.

"Watch and learn," she smirked.

She pulled her phone out from her bag and drew it near her ears. I didn't understand what she was doing, but I knew she wasn't calling anyone. The phone remained pitch black and I stood anchored to the ground, trying to get a sense of idea of what she's doing.

"Sorry Rubes." Yang faked an apologetic smile. "Looks like you owe me later." She said it notably loud, but not obnoxiously. "Something came up."

Oh?

I was still puzzled until she winked at me.

Oh.

Ooohh!

My mouth formed a perfect circle and I nodded my head as I finally caught on her so called grand idea. She stuffed her phone into her bag and turned her back to me when she headed straight towards the exit.

Before she was out of range, I caught a small chuckle from her.

"Best wingwoman ever."


	28. Chapter 28: Weiss

_**Weiss**_

What was… That?

I quickly excused myself to the aisles of the convenience store. The shelves were shorter than me, but tall enough that Ruby and Yang wouldn't be able to see me strangely clutching my chest. I couldn't feel the great pressure nor could I feel the vibrating drums; my pulse was beating normally.

Was that… A fluke?

My mind traced back to the events earlier, but I pushed my thoughts away. A fluke. Probably just nervousness. It's been awhile since I've been near someone at such close proximity, especially one that involved physical contact.

I sighed and glanced through the products to ease whatever I was feeling.

"Sorry Rubes." I caught an ear of Yang's apology to her cousin. "Looks like you owe me later. Something came up."

I raised my head from the shelves to see Yang exiting the store. This something must've been really important if she was heading back out to the rain shower again.

I went back to scanning at the items that the store was selling. There was not a single trace of umbrella hanging on display. They were out of stock, so I settled for a small towel. It might prove useful for Ruby to dab away the water on her hair and face. It was better than having her look like a forsaken puppy that was abandoned in a saturated box in a middle of a rainstorm.

Without sparing another thought, I took it to the cashier and purchased my item before handing it to her.

"What's this?" Ruby asked. She politely accepted and looked at it amusement. "You bought me a towel?"

"You look like you're in dire need of one," I snorted.

"Aww thanks Weiss!" Her hair was now sticking out of places when she ran it back and forth through her hair a few times. "I think I need a blow dryer though."

"You mean a leaf blower," I corrected her. A measly blow dryer wouldn't do a thing considering the state that she's in.

"A leaf blower works too." Ruby giggled and threw the towel around her neck. It barely draped over her shoulders as she held the ends of it with her hands. "You know what sounds good to eat right now?"

"What?" I dared to ask. Knowing Ruby and her impetuous responses, she might recommend some absurdly bizarre food crave like chocolate covered bacon. Or worse… Soy sauce and ice cream.

I shuddered, and banished the last thought from my mind.

"Cup noodles," she smiled. "It's perfect during the rain. My treat."

I let her suggestion sink into my head. My nails lightly tapped against my upper arm in constant succession as the words 'cup noodles' played in my head.

"What's that…?"


	29. Chapter 29: Ruby

_**Ruby**_

"Come again?" I asked, positive that I was raising my eyebrows way past my hair line. How could there be anyone on this planet not know what cup noodles are!

"What's that," she repeated again, though it sounded like it was becoming a squeak.

"You don't know what are cup noodles?" I deadpanned, reconfirming to make sure I heard correctly for the second time.

"No?" She hesitantly replied back, unsure if this was some kind of trick question.

Wow, she really doesn't know what cup noodles are. Either she's a really sheltered child or Atlas must be a nightmare to live in.

"Weiss Schnee, I'm culturing you."

I took her by the hand and dragged her around the corner in the convenience store. It didn't occur to me that we were holding hands until we swooped to the other side of the shelves that was designated for instant foods. I was a bit excited to show her what she missing out on. So excited that my impatience almost caused her to trip on her other foot. But when we reached in front of what we were looking for, I immediately dropped her hand, hoping she didn't notice a small rosy blush on my face and our fleeting intimacy.

Her hands were soft, flawless, and beautiful.

"Grimmly Hot Instant Noodle," she dryly read when she took a packaged noodle bowl from one of the shelves. She seemed very skeptical as she kept eyeing it.

"It's not that spicy," I reassured once I regained my composure. "It's my favorite, and it even has a cute little picture!"

I pointed to the image of a cartoon wolf majestically holding a bowl of noodles up in the air with its front paws. There was a smile under its snout, showing its harmless teeth. Weiss flipped to the back of the package and read the contents. I watched her eyes scanned it back and forth, and I waited to see if I got her approval.

"Ruby… It's 1450 milligrams of sodium…" Her eyes narrowed before it went back to me. "Do you know how much salt this little thing contains? And do you know how bad this is for you?"

"But Weiss," I droned. "It's _so damn_ good!" I nudged the side of her stomach with my elbows. "Get it? Eh get it? Sodium. So damn." I wiggled my eyebrows at her with an ear-to-ear grin spread across.

Weiss tried to keep a straight face.

But it cracked.

And she burst into laughter.


	30. Chapter 30: Weiss

_**Weiss**_

It was a horrible pun.

So bad that I had to laugh.

I held the sides of my stomach with one hand and I tried to hide my stretched out grin behind the packaged noodle bowl. It wasn't the funniest joke I ever heard, but it was plenty corny that it deserved attention.

Giggles from Ruby spilled from her lips, and she slipped the package right from my hand.

"I'll take that as a sign of your approval," she sang.

She trotted to the register and purchased the item before skipping back to me.

"So how does this work?" I asked as I watched her peel back the thin plastic-paper lid halfway. There were dried noodles in the bowl with a few dehydrated vegetables at the top of it.

"Observe as I make a snack under two minutes."

Ruby's tongue peeped out when she carefully removed the foil packets from inside. She skillfully flicked one packet and ripped a chunk of its corner before dumping all of its content inside. I watched her, a part of me wincing when she dumped another packet inside. There was a dense pile of finely grinded powder that toppled each other in the bowl.

That's a lot of sodium...

"Now what?" I skeptically asked. So far it doesn't look appetizing... "Am I supposed to eat that dried cardboard covered in sand?"

"No silly!" She beckoned me to follow her in the store. We stopped by in front of a machine that served hot water. "We cook it under boiling water."

She turned the nozzle and steaming water poured inside. I stood idly next to her and watched the water cover more than just the top of the noodles.

"Now we wait for at least a minute." Ruby pulled the lid back, so the steam wouldn't escape. The concept behind this so called cup noodles was interesting. It was quick and easy, perfect for people who lacked time. "Let me grab us a fork."

She left me with the bowl of cooking noodles on the counter. I wrapped around the bowl and its heat spread through the flesh of my palms. This is nice.

"Here you go Weiss!"

"Thank you Ruby." I took the fork she offered to me.

"Okay, it should be ready. Mix it and give it a taste."

I cracked open the lid and an aroma of flavor struck me first. It smelled nice at least. My fork sank into the pits of the bowl and I stirred the content carefully, making sure I don't make any accidental spills. Ruby giddily watched me when I pulled a fork full of noodles into my mouth.

I tried to gracefully eat the noodles to do away the slurping, but the sounds between my lips told me that I wasn't doing a good job at it.

"Sooo?" Ruby enthusiastically asked for my approval, ignoring the sloppy sounds when I ate.

"Mmm," I smacked my lips together. "You're right Ruby. This is so damn good."


	31. Chapter 31: Ruby

_**Ruby**_

She totally likes it!

"Told you!" I grinned, proudly puffing my chest. There's no one who can resist the flavor enhancer, monosodium glutamate. Excited, my mouth watered when I extended my arms to scoop a fork from the bowl. But I missed when Weiss pulled it from my reach.

I looked at her, and she silently looked at me back

I reached again, and my fork dug nothing but air as she pulled it away again. The noodles and the soup sloshed around but they never made it out of the bowl when she rapidly jerked it away.

My lips pressed firmly together when I frowned, and she took another bite from the bowl in response. An _intensively_ slow bite.

My silver eyes locked onto hers and I attempted again. I slowly reached over with my fork, but Weiss swatted it away with hers, a deep hollow clink resounded out when the plastic made contact.

"You're not sharing are you?" I dropped my fork to my side, nearly surrendering in defeat.

"You said it was your treat," Weiss used my words against me while she smiled haughtily. She took another bite, and she was almost halfway done with it already. "I'm indulging myself."

My shoulders slumped down, and my bottom lips jutted out. "But Weiss!"

"I'm kidding," she playfully rolled her eyes. She passed the bowl over, and I happily accepted it. "As much as I would like to finish the entire thing, I don't think my body can handle all the sodium in one sitting."

"You're too healthy." My voice echoed from the bowl when my lips pressed between its edges. I heartily enjoyed what was left when I downed the content, and licked my lips. "Your stomach should thank me for introducing you to such sinful food."

"So far my taste buds are the only ones showing appreciation." She then placed her hands on her hips, and she watched me scrape the remains with my fork. "Done yet?"

"Yep!" The fork popped from my mouth and I tossed everything into the trash right by the entrance.

We walked outside to the front of the convenience store right after, and we stood under the building's roof. The rain refused to let up as it continued to pour down like before. From what I could tell, the rain made it difficult to see a yard away.

Weiss snapped open her umbrella, and I watched her take a few steps forward into the rain. I noted the wrinkle spots after the wet hand print on her uniform had dried off. My eyes lingered on her back, and I continued to watch her while lost in my own thoughts.

I could probably hitch a ride under her umbrella, but my apartment was an extra mile or two out of the way from hers. Walking home from here was a little bit faster than walking from her place.

Weiss looked over her shoulders and glanced at me with her piercing blue eyes. "You coming?"

My lips twisted into a smile when she waited for me as the rain thrummed from above. "Yeah."

Even if I did live miles away, it couldn't keep me away from her. Not miles, and not even the rain could stop me if she never gave me a reason to do so.

We started walking to her apartment's direction when I caught up to her. We were silent most of the way, but I didn't mind as I was more concentrated to the sounds of my surroundings. The sound of the rain crashing above was far from gentle, but the humming sound vibrating between Weiss's lips were.

I listened silently, lips creeping into a underlying grin, as I slowly blocked out the thrashing water just to hear her. Her wordless melody was soothing, something I had never heard before. She kept humming, a dulcet timbre stroking my eardrums in successive intervals. I didn't dare to close my eyes in fear that my clumsiness might stop her.

Everything around me seemed so surreal when she sung, lips closed without articulating any words. She seemed so carefree, and I couldn't help but to admire her even more.

Subtle glimpses turned to long glances. Long glances then turned into lengthy gawks. My blatant stare broke her from her orchestra, and her voice broke me from my trance.

"Is something wrong?" Her humming stopped when she raised a question. "You keep staring."

"O-oh n-no!" I shook my head. I didn't know how long I was staring for. What I thought was seconds probably turned into minutes. "Nothing's wrong. I was just surprised because you were humming."

"Sorry," Weiss quietly murmured. "I have a habit of being in my own world when it rains."

"No no!" I waved dismissively. "I really enjoyed it. I mean, your humming was beautiful, and even the song seemed to be beautiful." My left hand found its way to the back of my neck and my voice died into a faint murmur. "I-I guess everything about it is breathtaking."

"Oh um thank you," Weiss said softly.

I was a bit disappointed when she didn't continue where she last hummed, but we did chatted at the last segment of our walk. We talked about nothing in particular until we reached to her apartment.

"Here." She pushed the handle of her umbrella towards me, and I gave her a puzzled look. "Even if you're already damp, it's better than being out in the pouring rain. I don't want you to freeze more than you already are."

I blinked a few times to registered what she had said. Honestly, I was prepared to run all the way home in the rain once I dropped her off. At worst, I would probably catch a cold but it would be totally worth it.

"Aww Weiss! That's sweet of you!" I grinned appreciatively when she handed me her umbrella. "But how do I return this back to you though?"

Her brows adorably furrowed when she put some thought to it. Realistically, I could probably carry it with me every day until I see her next time. But it's such a hassle to constantly hold an umbrella on a day when it's not raining.

"Phone," she said as she held out her hand. I blankly stared at her before I fumbled my phone from my pocket. I let out a quiet shiver when her cold, slender fingers brushed against mine when I handed her my phone. I thought the chilly weather would deter her from typing in her number, but she did so without a single tremble. "I'll hunt you down if you don't return it."

"Yes ma'am!" I saluted with a sappy smile adorned on my face after she returned my phone.

My free hand gripped tightly on my phone as I watched Weiss turned on her heels to the front door. When she was out of sight, my cheeks stretched widely when I stared at her number under my contact list. My body quivered not from the cold, but the glee circulating everywhere.

In printed black letters, it said Weiss Schnee.

The rain thrummed against the umbrella in a rhythm just like how she previously hummed.

Who knew I could love the rain this much.

* * *

 **Scored! Ruby got her number.**

 **This is actually a good stopping point for now. I caught up to all the prewritten chapters I had beforehand. It will take some time before the next chapter is out because I prefer to have a good number of outlines prepared. I'm trying to find the time to do that, but school is consuming more time than I want it to.**

 **See you in the next chapter! And if you're waiting for my other stories, I hope to see you soon!**


	32. Chapter 32: Weiss

**_Weiss_**

The pouring rain finally let up when night fell. My phone buzzed on the edge of my desk and I paused from my supplementary work to check who it was from. It couldn't have been from Winter considering she was still at work. It wouldn't make sense if it was from Blake since I would assume she would rather make use of her time reading.

Bumfuzzled, I turned my phone over and checked my messages. It was a new number I wasn't familiar with, and its vague messages didn't help me deduce who it was. It couldn't have possibly been a random advertisement spam since the message started with ' _Hello, it's me.'_

My phone buzzed again and I furrowed my eyebrows upon the new message.

' _I was wondering if after all these you'd like to meet.'_

Okay... This is strangely getting creepy. What the heck am I supposed to do. Should I block the number? Or —

The phone buzzed another time.

' _To go over everything.'_

What is this heresy?

Then again.

' _They say that time's suppose to heal ya, but I aint done much healing.'_

I uttered an annoyed sound. Probably some weird prank... Right?

The phone buzzed again.

' _Hello, can you hear me.'_

I scowled at the message and turned my head to check my surroundings out of paranoia. The messages was beginning to sound like some horror film. I didn't know what this person was talking about. I didn't hear anything. Was I suppose to? Maybe I should call the cops and have them — It buzzed again. And again, and again, and again, and again. I slowly blinked, trying to comprehend the rapid messages I was receiving. Then, it finally slowed.

' _HELLOO FROM THE OTHER SIDE.'_

' _I must've texted you —'_

The message oddly paused for a few seconds.

' _Thirteen times?'_

Counting that, it was actually fourteen times, but I refuse to respond just to make some dumb correction. Like I don't even know this — My phone buzzed again.

' _To tell you I'm Ruby :D'_

Oh.

With a deep frown written all over my face, I changed the unknown number to Ruby, added her to my contact list, and began to text her back. Honestly, it really did slipped from my mind that I gave her my number earlier today.

 _Ruby Rose, I will murder you with a happy-go-lucky smile adorn on my face_ —

I paused, started deleting my text to change it something more… Appropriate, and finally responded back to all of Ruby's nonsense.

 _Weiss: Ruby, you freaked me out._

 _Ruby: What? How?_

 _Weiss: I thought you were some deranged lunatic out to get me or something_

 _Ruby: Weiss, I was literally quoting from a song_

 _Weiss: Normal people would start a simple message with a Hello followed by their name._

 _Ruby: ): I kind of did? I was being creative_

 _Weiss: Creativity almost made me called the cops on you._

 _Ruby: Oh my god, you really did freaked out LOOOL_

I snorted at her absurd laughing text message. It wasn't THAT funny, but I had admit, it was a bit ridiculous on my end. Maybe. I pushed my homework to the side, scooted my chair, and unceremoniously flopped onto my bed as I continued to text her.

 _Ruby: Okay, I'm sorry. Let me start over. Hello, it's Ruby (:_

 _Weiss: Hello Ruby._

 _Ruby: I think I'm getting sick. My nose won't stop running_

I stifled a chuckle.

 _Weiss: That's a shame._

 _Ruby: Did you shower already? You should just in case you do catch one_

 _Weiss: Earlier, yes._

 _Ruby: Oh good. Cause I didn't :D_

 _Weiss: That explains why you're getting sick._

It took a bit for Ruby to respond back. It was odd considering we were sending each other messages back and forth within seconds. I kicked my leg up and bit my lips as I waited and waited for Ruby to reply back. Then, my head perked up when I saw a '...' indicator at the bottom of the corner.

 _Ruby: It's okay. I just need my doses to feel better that's all._

 _Weiss: Doses of what?_

 _Ruby: You._


	33. Chapter 33: Ruby

_**Ruby**_

"ACHHOOO!" I pulled a tissue from a small box to wipe the leak coming from my nose.

I was at my cousin's house just casually sitting at the corner of the couch while Yang sat at the other end. She was fiddling with her console controller playing some professional boxing game. After I dropped off Weiss, I went straight to Yang's house. She bombarded me with questions right when I stepped in, and like a good cousin I am, I shared everything that transpired today. Then our topics changed, and now Yang is being some love guru.

"Bless your poor soul because you're going to get friend zoned." Yang did not bother to sugar coat her words while her eyes never left the television screen. Her hands practically manhandled the controller considering she was trying to do a bunch of combos. "Like I was saying before, Weiss needs to catch some kind of wind that you're romantically interested in her. Seeing that you're both the same gender, it kind of skews her perception."

"What's wrong with my plan?" I tried to reason with her. "Become the most awesome best friend she ever had, and in due time, she'll like me."

"It's filled with so many holes Ruby," Yang paused her game and put down her controller. She turned her hips and faced me with a dead serious look. "She'll like you as a friend and probably nothing more. Then far in the future she's going to end up at the altar with someone else, and you're going to end up as her maid of honor regretting every moment of your life."

Wow… I mean I guess when she puts it that way… That does sound pretty awful.

"Okay fine," I relented. My phone vibrated and I turned my attention to it to respond to Weiss before consulting to Yang. We have been texting for a little bit. "What should I do 'O Brilliant Guru'."

"As I said before, show that you're interested in her. Hint it. That's the most important thing," Yang couldn't stress it enough. "But also, don't come off too strong."

"Uhh huh…" I nodded along, but my eyes were kept glued to my phone screen. I didn't want to leave Weiss hanging in our conversation.

"Play it by ear. The best love is when you least expect it."

"Uh huh."

"Maybe send in a couple of subtle text messages that is opened up for interpretations. That way, she thinks twice about your friendship. If it turns out she likes you, that's great. If she's confused, that's okay too. If she misinterpret your motives, then don't be discouraged. But if she feels uncomfortable, back off immediately."

"Uh huh," I just kept bobbing my head up and down without realizing it.

"Keep the conversation going. Whatever you do, don't let it die. It tells her that you're putting effort into it. Unless… She really doesn't want to talk to you…" Yang murmured to the side, but I caught a tailwind of it.

"Uh huh…"

"Then when everything is all happy and stuff, and you feel like you're ready, you should kick up your flirt game. You can do my all time favorite — playing hard to get, but —" Yang stop dead in her sentence when she realized I was more absorbed on my phone.

"Uh huu — Hey!" I exclaimed in surprised when Yang had yank my phone out of my hands.

Yang shook her head as she quickly scanned the content. "Yikes… Okay, playing hard to get is out of the options because this girl —" My cousin pressed her finger at my phone screen. "Is a conversation killer. New plan. You need to actively chase her. Pursue her."

"What happened to not coming off too strong," I questioned back as I tried to swipe my phone back. Though, it didn't work since I came out empty handed.

"It's harmless flirting," Yang pointed a finger gun at me. "Girls do it all the time with each other. Here, let me show you..."

"Wha — Yang! NOOO!" I lunged at her to steal back my phone but it was futile. Yang kept me at bay with one arm while her other hand nimbly texted back to Weiss. "Bad Yang! Put my phone down!"

"Annndd…."

"NOOO!" Her palm kept nudging my cheeks to push me away while I uselessly flailed my hands to take back what used to be mine.

"Done." Yang tossed the phone back to me and I scrambled to unlock my phone to see what abomination she had written.

My eyes flung wide when I read what she texted back to Weiss.

Oh my — Kill me please. This is way to embarrassing.

"YANG THIS IS NOT SUBTLE AT ALL!" I put down my phone and lunged towards her, wrestling from the couch to the ground. "REALLY? DOSES OF YOU? WHAT KIND OF CORNY LINE DID YOU RIP THAT FROM!"

"Ruby, it's great!" She adamantly defended.

"What am I going to do now?!" I panicked, filled with all sorts of negative worries. Seeing how strangling Yang wasn't good enough, I rolled off of her and thumped the back of my head onto her floor. "It's our first time texting, and now she's going to think something's wrong with me. She's going to hate me."

"Ruby."

"Then she won't ever want to associate with me or be my friend. Then she's going to end up at the altar with someone else and I wouldn't even be considered as a candidate for the maid of honor position because we won't be friends."

"Ruby."

"Then I'm going to be sad and alone."

"Ruby..."

"I'm going to grow old and have a bunch of cats. All the neighboring kids will call me cat lady. And I don't even like cats. And —"

"Ruby!" Yang shook my shoulder to stop me from depressingly ramble on. "Chill. She texted back and everything is fine."

"Wha —" I scrambled up and threw myself back to my phone.

"You're welcome," Yang puffed her chest with a latent smuggness but shrunk hesitantly. "I think…"

I glanced at the message and I couldn't even stop myself from goofily grinning.

"Wow, you have it really bad…" Yang commented with a crooked frown. But I simply ignored her since I was caught up with rereading the message over and over again.

 _Weiss: Haha, you're funny. But I don't get how being with me will help you._

Hehe.

She thinks I'm funny.


	34. Chapter 34: Weiss

_**Weiss**_

 _Ruby: I'm sure you can cook up some hearty chicken soup to heal my poor soul :D_

My thumb stopped short at my phone's touch screen when I paused to contemplate for a moment. It is true that I can make something similar to a hearty chicken soup. It wasn't difficult. And seeing how Ruby wasn't at her top conditions, it might prove beneficial for her.

 _Weiss: Okay. Would you like to come over on Saturday?_

I waited for a response and tilted my head when the '...' indicator below our chat box reappeared and disappeared multiple times. When it did came back, the icon sat there much like how I laid still on my bed, flat on my belly. As the dial ticked loudly from the hand clock, my mind started wandering off to another direction to why she wasn't responding at her usual rate.

I became more nervous and all sort of questions surfaced.

Was it too soon to invite Ruby over?

Would she feel too uncomfortable since we met only just a little less than a week ago?

She does seem a little conflicted at the moment...

Does that make me a bad friend?

The more I thought about it, the more I sulked and regretted my message. My mind did logically brought up a few good points. We weren't the greatest friends, but yet, we weren't acquaintances either. We were just friends. So it technically wouldn't make sense to invite her over if I barely knew her. But then again, isn't that the whole point of asking her to come by? To get to know her?

When my phone buzzed, my heart sunk.

 _Ruby: Seriously?_

My mind interpreted her message as a marker of sarcasm and I forced myself to weakly respond back.

 _Weiss: I'm sorry. You don't need to feel obligated to come over._

I immediately closed my phone screen and rolled on my back to puff out a hot breath of regret. I tried not to over analyze the situation too much, but my mind appears to enjoy it. It kept bringing back to the negative thoughts of how short sighted I am. I wasn't being considerate at all and now Ruby probably feels pressured to go. Then the whole situation will be awkward and —

The constant buzzing of my phone brought me out of my slumps and I reluctantly peeked at the messages left on my lock screen.

 _Ruby: NO!_

 _Ruby: I mean, I love to come over_

 _Ruby: I mean only if you're okay with it_

 _Ruby: Um...Weiss_

 _Ruby: Will it be okay if I come over on Saturday?_

Her series of messages she left alleviated all my foolish worries. It washed away everything, and I dropped my shoulders in relief. Her message earlier wasn't purposely aiming for a sarcastic tone. It was a genuine question, and a part of me felt ashamed that I misunderstood what she meant.

 _Weiss: Yes, of course. Sorry, I didn't want to pressure you or anything._

 _Ruby: I don't feel pressured at all (: I'm happy that I can come over_

I blinked twice at her response, and I didn't realize the small smile forming on my lips. We texted throughout the night until our eyes couldn't hold up much longer.


	35. Chapter 35: Ruby

_**Ruby**_

I always questioned why people turned to a mirror or a window every time they walked passed one. Yang does it all the time. She even talks to it — well she mainly talks to her voluminous hair actually. Sun does it, but not to check his hair. He often lifts his shirt to check his sculpted abs that he developed over the years. Jaune does it. But his reflection always cast back shaggy hair and… Not abs.

I rarely did it, but today, I caught myself checking my reflection from almost every front window of a shop. I realized why. Today was Saturday, meaning I was on my way to Weiss's apartment. I wanted to look at least presentable, more than I am normally.

Every second I try to fix my hair a part of me told myself I was being absolutely silly and looked fine. But no matter how many times I nagged myself, I self consciously turn to see my reflection.

By the time I got to Weiss's apartment, I was glad that I didn't have to walk past any more windows. But most importantly, my gift I plan to give her would appreciate that it wouldn't need to sit in a suffocating bag for far much longer.

Right when I walked to her front door steps, I rang her doorbell and received a quick 'in a minute!' response. I rocked my heels back and forth as I patiently waited. Meanwhile, eyes darted around to drink in the landscape that the property had to offer.

Outside appeared really nice and dandy. It looked trim and green, and the apartment itself was a decade away from looking run down.

When I picked up the sound of unlatching, I turned back to the doorway. Weiss opened the door and welcomed me with a warm, intoxicating smile she probably never knew she had. They never failed to be beautiful, and I would always admire how tender and pretty they were. But this time, my eyes went to admire at _what she wore_.

"You didn't need to bring something for me," Weiss had her eyes on the brown bag I was holding.

I blinked a few times trying to register what she was saying, but it was hard when my eyes were focused her garment.

"Ruby?" Weiss tilted her head when I wasn't answering. "Helloo —"

"Oh sorry Weiss," my mind emerged out of its stupor. She then welcomed me into her humble abode. "I got you um… A dog."

Her body sharply twisted around, doubting she heard correctly. "You _what_?"

"A dog," I repeated again, trying to hide a giggle. I raised the brown paper bag to my eye level and presented her gift. "I got you a dog."

"You're lying," her blue eyes narrowed directly at me. I remained silent and wiggled the bag, urging her to take her gift. "I don't believe you."

"Weiss, it's going to suffocate at this rate." I shook the bag back and forth which brought an expression of horror on Weiss's face.

"Ruby, stop!" She quickly strode to my direction and snatched the bag from my hands. "You going to kill…" She opened the bag and her face fell flat much like her shoulders. "A plant."

"You're gullible," I booped her nose.

She winced, pulled back, and gave me one of her scowls. "You're insufferable."

"It was either oranges or a plant!"

"Why oranges?"

Weiss took the plant out from the bag, placed it onto the living room table, and proceeded to the kitchen. I followed right behind her like some loyal puppy with a sappy smile plastered on my face.

"I read that it's supposed to symbolize good fortune or something."

"I'll be sure to demand oranges as a payment the next time you come over," Weiss huffed while she mixed the substance in the medium size pot with a wooden spoon. What she was cooking smelled really nice.

"I don't know if it works like that…" I commented, observing her add a tiny more salt into it.

"Here, try this." She turned around and presented me a spoonful of a soup. I watched the piping hot steam vent out to the air and I glanced back at her in bewilderment. "It's chicken soup."

"I sort of fought off the cold but —" I leaned forward, blew on it a few times, before sipping from the spoon she was presenting me. I can't reject her offer if she's volunteering on her own accord, not like I want to or anything.

"How is it?" Weiss placed the spoon onto the counter, opened for criticism or compliments.

Honestly, it was really good. It was flavorful, and I enjoy my chicken soup more thin rather than thick. I tried to come up with a compliment that was heartfelt, rather than the common 'it's good' praise. But nothing came to mind until I glanced back to her garment, the tied back apron that caught my attention the entire time I was here.

I smiled broadly at her and read what it almost basically said.

"You cook as good as you look."


	36. Chapter 36: Weiss

_**Weiss**_

"So it's terrible?" I asked her, putting up my best sullen face that I can possibly muster. I found it perplexing how Ruby can do it on a day to day base.

"WHAT?!" She blurted out when my reply was something she did not expect.

I never seen her eyes flung that wide before other than the time she almost fell off her cousin's motorcycle.

"No! You look good — I mean you cook good," Ruby desperately tried to make a save and fumbled around her words. "But you also look good and your cooking is great. Fantastic even. Did I mention your cooking is good?"

"Ruby," I gently flicked her forehead to get her attention.

She uttered out a yip and recoiled at my sudden attack.

"I'm kidding." It was impossible to hide my smugness when I was flashing it triumphantly.

"Is this suppose to be payback?" Her shoulders slumped forward while she rubbed the area where I flicked.

"For tricking me earlier?" I raised my chin a little proudly. "Yes. I know I don't look _that_ terrible. And honestly —" I pulled my apron in a way where I can read the bold printed words on the front. "I don't get why my sister decides to buy me this apron."

"It's fitting? Wait — you have a sister?"

"Yes, I do. Much older than me in fact. And for someone at her age, you would expect she could've find something more appropriate rather than 'I Cook As Good As I Look' apron. "

I sighed and started self-consciously question what sort of nonsense goes into Winter's head. But I immediately pulled myself away from my thoughts before I start going tangent in front of my guest.

"Anyways, have a seat." I pulled up a chair for Ruby at the dining table.

"Thanks," Ruby took my offer and sat down. She watched me intently as I prepare a hot bowl of soup like I promised her during the middle of the week. "Are your parents home?"

I flinched at the unforeseen, but yet, usually common question. Thankfully I had my back turned to her.

"No…" I tried to sound very much normal rather than sour at the sudden mention of parents. "They're not home. They won't be for… Awhile I guess."

I wasn't planning to give her a spew about how my mother passed away from alcohol poisoning, or share the part where I left my neglecting father three years ago just to live with my sister. Especially when Ruby and I had met not too long ago.

"Oh," Ruby responded weakly. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"No no," I shook my head to dispel the uncomfortable atmosphere. "It is what it is. I manage with my sister."

I set our bowls down and gave her a spoon before pulling a seat for myself. I quietly dipped my spoon into it and ate about a quarter of the way until Ruby finally broke the silence.

"What's your sister like?" She curiously asked a genuine question.

"Well…" I stopped and stared into my chicken soup as I thought of the appropriate words to describe my sister. "Like most older siblings, she's protective." I tried to think of something exceptional about my sister, but strangely, words failed to come to mind. I swirled my soup with my spoon and gave Ruby a bone to chew. "She's an upstanding citizen?"

"Really?" Ruby fought back a laugh and raised an eyebrow at me. "An upstanding citizen? Weiss, almost everyone here is an upstanding citizen."

"W-Well…" I stuttered in hot embarrassment at my lacking description. But I was partly saved when my ears picked up a fiddling sound coming from the doorknob. My head perked and I glanced over my shoulder before returning my attention back to Ruby. "Rather than attempting and failing to accurately describe my sister, you can meet her in person."

Ruby unceremoniously dropped her spoon into her soup bowl and presented an awfully blank stare to what I had just said. "C-Come a-again?"

"My sister just got home."

Despite how there was a large wall between the kitchen and the front entrance, I eagerly sat in my seat waiting for Winter's return. When the door closed, it was strange for Winter to come home without uttering a single greeting. Sometimes she was boisterously loud and loved to make known that she got home. However, today she seemed rather quiet.

I could pick up sounds of heavy footstep, and it increasingly got louder until the person with said footstep graced us in her physical form.

"People. Are. So. Damn. Annoying!" Winter fumed in frustration right when she entered into the kitchen. She didn't seem to notice Ruby's presence considering she had her hands covering and rubbing her entire face tiredly. "They have one job. _One_ job! And they can't even do it. Incompetent little — UGH! I just want to rip their idiotic heads —"

"Ahem," I cleared my throat to grab my sister's attention. It was a success when she finally removed her impeding hands to _finally_ notice our guest.

"Oh…" Winter's voice dropped when her and Ruby made eye contact.

Arms half-raised and shrinking into her seat, Ruby sheepishly waved back. "Um… Hi?"

Winter really is an upstanding citizen...

* * *

 **To those waiting for my other stories, I am currently working on them as I write this. More specifically, A Soul Of A Rose. If you want to know my whereabouts, you can go to my profile if you'd like. I'm half way done with the chapter, but it'll be a slow while for it to actually update. Same goes for my other stories. This one is an exception because it only takes less than an hour to write a chapter. Not to mention, I have a few chapters already prepared.**


	37. Chapter 37: Ruby

_**Ruby**_

Her sister is absolutely terrifying.

All she need was those hard-shell face mask and carry those long blade kitchen knives with razor sharp teeth. Honestly, maybe a bloody chainsaw would do her justice. She was literally prepared to send heads flying when she frustratingly stormed into the kitchen.

She fumigated and breathed hot fire from her mouth. She had a pair of wings growing from her —

Okay, I'm _over_ exaggerating. But seriously? Have you seen the woman? I could only offer a pathetic meep of a greeting as I felt like she wanted to shred me apart when our eyes barely made contact. With the way she shot a glare at me… She could've been the embodiment of the devil itself hiding in a very feminine form! Not to mention —

"M-My apologies," her sister's expression flipped immediately once she noticed my presence. The furrowed eyebrows managed to relax, and she gave me one of those sweet looks that could rival Weiss. "It slipped from my mind that Weiss was having a guest over."

"I.. Ah.. Um.." I answered dumbly at the unexpected change. Yeah... No… She's definitely not a fire breathing demon. Totally had a wrong impression. "No worries Miss Schnee!"

"Winter will just do fine," she softly chuckled, flashing me a kinder side of her.

"O-Oh," I stammered a little, mentally slapping myself that I wasn't prepared for this introduction at all. "Um.. I'm Ruby! Pleased to meet you."

"Since Weiss usually doesn't bring friends over —"

"Winter!" Weiss objected, giving her sister a betrayed look in which Winter skillfully disregarded.

"The pleasure is all mine," Winter said modestly. She pulled up a seat after peeking what Weiss had made for lunch. From her pleased expression, I could tell she will immensely enjoy Weiss's comfort food today. "What brings you over, Ruby? Tutoring?"

"Ahh well…" I started off sheepishly, still a little nervous of our first meeting. "Not exactly. We don't go to the same school."

"Oh?" Winter darted a glance to her sister before returning back to me.

"I go to Signal High. I kind of caught a cold, and Weiss thought chicken soup would cure it. So…" I choked up a nervous laugh. "Here I am."

Winter hummed and folded her hands onto the table. "Very interesting… So, what are your thoughts on her cooking?" She couldn't fight the notable smile spreading on her lips when the words left her mouth.

"Winter, don't you dare..." Weiss warned her, anticipating what her older sister was about to say.

But Winter couldn't resist the urge to.

"She cooks as good as she looks right?"

I couldn't help but to giggle, and the nervous fibers in my body magically disappeared in a snap. Winter joined in with a light laugh, and that made Weiss adorably slump her shoulders and childishly pout with her arms crossing her chest.

I sneaked a glance over to Weiss who was still pushing her lips in petulant annoyance. But even then, her pouting lips didn't remain forever. There was a crook at the corner, and she revealed such an innocent, lighthearted smile that I would love to see everyday. It brought warm rays of sunshine into my world every time my eyes make their way over to her. It was the cute things and small gesture she does that I found attractive. Her attempts to hide her laughter, the way the corner of her eyes crinkles when she does, how her chin tilts in a captivating angle, how she brushes the small strands of her unique alabaster hair over her ear, the way her blue orbs shyly flicks down… The list went on forever.

And everyday... It's as if everyday I like her more than before.

"Yes, she does."


	38. Chapter 38: Weiss, Present Day

_**Weiss**_ _ **, Present Day**_

"Wait," I interrupted right in the middle of our story. Ruby paused her tender strokes on the back of my hand, while my father seemed a little disappointed. "That was your first impression of Winter?"

"It was a bit over the top," Ruby laughed inwardly. "But yeah… If she could, she would've spewed out hot boiling lava. You know how she feels about her co-workers. She sees them as basically useless sardines."

She started imitating a gasping fish, mocking Winter's co-workers when they didn't know how to appropriately respond to a common question they get in phone calls. My father let out a quiet chuckle as he watched Ruby in amusement while the corner of my eyes crinkled when I held my laugh.

"Thank you Goldfish girl for your unnecessary, but yet comical, theatricals." I managed to regain my composure. "But I'm glad her hard work paid off considering she's about to take over the office soon."

Ruby nodded in agreement, while my father remained a tad clueless of our conversation. He was out for a part of Winter and my lives that he didn't knew what was currently happening.

"Anyways," the topic hopped back to something related to our story when I decided to change it. "I should've burned that apron."

"But Weiss!" Ruby gasped in over dramatic horror at the statement. "You looked cute in it. You still do to this day."

"W-well..." I shyly glanced down to my hand and fiddled with my thumb. They twirled in circles trying to fill in the silence as I attempted to come up some excuse. But obviously my lack of response went to my girlfriend's head as she gave me a self-satisfied smile. "Oh hush." I gave her shoulder a nudge, feeling my cheeks warming up to her favorite color.

Three years of being together and Ruby still makes me weak on the knees.

"Oh wow," Ruby frowned when she quickly glanced at the hand clock hanging on the wall. My father followed her line of sight before double checking with his watch. "Time flies really fast…"

"It certainly does," he nodded in agreement. "I was greatly enjoying everything you two were sharing too."

"Oh believe me, we barely scratched the surface of it! And, I'm enjoying it as much as you are," Ruby started gushing. "And I'm positive Weiss is also."

"Am not," I swiftly denied.

"Despite what she says..." She started poking my cheek with that broad beautiful grin of hers until I swatted her pesky finger away. "That's the face of 'I totally love it'."

"Oh?" My father turned to me to get a good look of my face.

I huffed and turned the other way, trying to make the opposite. Those two were getting along _too_ well.

"Anyways. Mr. Schnee, would you like to stay for lunch?" My girlfriend politely asked him, being more hospitable than I was.

"I would lov —" He paused in his sentence when he received a few messages on his phone. He tended to them but not before letting out a heavy sigh. "I apologize." My father shook his head. "Considering I'm here in Vale for only a brief period of time, a few people are demanding for my attention and wanted to meet up for lunch to discuss a few things."

"Shame," I replied in sarcastic dryness. A part of me was glad that I didn't need to sit through an awkward session. It was bad enough in the living room, probably save for Ruby who was keeping the conversation going and the atmosphere less tense.

"But I would immensely appreciate it if you we could continue this once my meeting is over," he gave another one of his foreign, gentle smiles. I internally cringed again when he did as I wasn't used to it at all.

"Of course! We'd be happy to share our story with you right Weiss?" Ruby looked over to me with an innocent smile that I would absolutely hate to see falter.

"Sure," I didn't know what to do but to comply. I was rewarded with a quick peck on the cheek, a prize I would happily accept.

"Then it's settle. Mr. Schnee," Ruby got up to see him out the door. I followed behind her, lagging only a few steps behind. "We will see you in a bit."

"Thank you Miss Rose." My father expressed his gratitude with a handshake. He looked back towards me and I could see his mustache deflating when I refused to soften my cold glaring eyes. "I'll see you in a bit also, Weiss."

I stayed silent in response to his partings and continued to watch his chauffeur open the door for him. They drove off into the distance a little after to wherever he needed to go.

"That wasn't too bad right?" Ruby uttered out a nervous chuckle when I turned to her with an unyielding flat expression. I crossed my arms and eyed her while I remained silent. "Oh come on! Admit it. Even you like talking about the past even though we're sharing it with your dad."

She gingerly snaked her arms around my waist and watched me intently with those glittering silver eyes, our faces not too far from each other. I knew what her ploy was. She was trying to dissolve the harden expression I had going on. And I have to say... It was working.

"Fine," I reluctantly admitted. Our bodies rocked side to side under Ruby's command. "Maybe I do like taking a stroll down memory lane."

"You mean you _love_ it." Once again, Ruby shared that obnoxious but yet charming smile of hers. "So what do you want to do now?" She purposefully angled her chin, and I watched her silver eyes moved away from mine to my lips. I could sense those imploring silver moons tracing its form. "Make lunch? Grocery shop?" Her hand reached up to brush away the long, freed hair that I didn't bother to restrain with a hair tie. Rather than it tumbling along the surface of my cheeks, she secured it behind my ear.

"Or…" Ruby continued, trailing off to give me an opportunity to finish her sentence in which I happily accepted.

"Finish where we left off in our story?"

My eyes also flicked down to her lips. I placed my arms above hers and affectionately wrapped them around her neck. We couldn't stop ourselves from slowly leaning in and sharing a fleeting kiss as we stood right behind my closed doors.

"Without your dad?"

We shared another one, much longer than the previous. I could feel my waist nicely snugged in between her strong arms. My heart never failed to thrash wildly against my chest when we do so. But we broke apart when our soft lips inevitably stretched into a growing small smile.

"My father doesn't need to know every little detail," I answered with much satisfaction. My lips and nose barely grazed hers when I glanced back up with hooded eyes. "Now come on."

Ruby laughed when I impatiently tugged her out the door, almost causing her to trip on her own feet.

"Where are we going?" She asked in between the laughter.

"Reliving our past."


	39. Chapter 39: Ruby, Present Day

_**Ruby, Present Day**_

I knew right off the bat where Weiss was taking us. The way she impatiently yanked me out of the door, the excited look on her face, but also the route we walked on — I definitely knew where she was taking us.

When we reached our destination, Weiss fished out her keys and fiddled with the lock to get in the one designated place she wanted to go.

"You know..." From behind, I swept her hair to the side to keep them from curtaining over her eyes. "We haven't been here in awhile. Like a half a year or so?"

"Which is why we're reliving our past."

She managed to open the door to the game room permitted only to residents, and she strode in with a nostalgic look. I followed suit and hugged her from behind while I drank in the sight also. Everything appeared to be the same. Rarely anyone took advantage the game room except for Weiss and I.

"Remember the first time we were here?" Weiss sighed as she leaned back to rest against my chest.

"It was the same day I met your sister for the first time and literally where we left off before you interrupted." I nudge my cheek onto hers, giving her a funny look. "How can I not? It's hard to forget your dense moments."

"Oh hush," she squeezed my nose to cut off half of my circulation and wiggled out of my arms.

She picked up a cue stick and walked around the billiard table. The striped and solid colored balls were already arranged in a pyramid. She leaned forward and I admired her break the stack with ease. There was a sharp noise when the balls made contact and they all scattered around the table.

It wasn't long until I picked up a cue stick and joined in on her game. With a tongue barely peeping out of my mouth, I aimed carefully before thrusting my cue stick onto the cue ball. It hit, but the white ball cleanly missed its target.

"You still suck," she snorted, her teeth flashed when she showed me her grin.

"I'm just giving you an advantage," I adamantly defended.

Immediately after the end of my turn, I made my way over to Weiss and hovered behind her, right before she had the chance to make a shot. Just my chin above her shoulder, one hand held her off-hand while the other gingerly wrapped the one that gripped the cue stick.

We didn't look like anything less than a typical interaction you would see at a bar with couples trying to teach their significant others how to play pool.

"You know..." She turned to the side of her shoulder. Our faces were intimately right next to each other, so I couldn't help but to close the distance and steal a kiss. She delightfully hummed and stole one for herself, bringing out a smile from me. "I might accidentally jab your stomach like this."

"That's impossible. You can't jab me like —" I coughed upon the impact when she _purposefully_ jabbed me with an elbow from her off-hand. I took a few steps back to recover and my eyes flicked up to meet that cute snooty smirk of hers.

"Oh…" My eyes sharply fixed on her. " _It's on_."

"Well I would like to see you —" Weiss squealed when I caught her by surprise, the stick immediately fell out of her hands and onto the floor. She never expected me to throw her over my shoulder like some kind of medieval kidnap attempt.

"Ruby!" Weiss laughed while slapping my back futilely. She screamed even more when I twirled her around. I made sure she was safely secured before I spun us dangerously. "Put me down!"

"Say please!" I twirled us even faster.

"Ruuby!"

I could feel myself blissfully drowning in her laughter.

"Please put me down before you unintentionally hurl me across the room!"

"Okay okay," I gasped for air while laughing.

I set her down right on top of the billiard table and I leaned into her, my head a little below hers. We silently stared deep into each other eyes, cherishing every moment together while I stood and she sat there breathless from our antics. Her platinum hair cascaded down like a waterfall and curtained over my face. It generously tickled my skin but they were silk soft. I could never find the strength to pry myself away whenever Weiss pushed my hair behind my ear and caressed my cheek with the back of her hand so lovingly.

I was under her magical spell. She was my enchanting siren, and I would gladly be lured like a love-struck sailor. I fell limp into her arms and she lowered her forehead until it met mine, our nose delicately bumping in the process.

"Tell me what you remember." Her voice was soft like fresh fallen snow when she whispered. Her eyes closed and she continued to stroke my cheek tenderly.

I shut my eyes, leaned into her hand with my forehead kissing hers, and told her every little details I could _never_ forget.


	40. Chapter 40: Ruby

**Ruby**

"You guys have a game room?" I asked them. We already finished our chicken soups and chatted for a little while. I shot Weiss a look of astonishment, but even she shrugged as she didn't know there was such a thing.

"Why yes we do," Winter chuckled. "Weiss doesn't know because she refuses to walk around the area."

"There isn't exactly much to see," Weiss justified her actions.

"And you lived here for like how many years now?"

"For Weiss, approximately three years. I've lived here for awhile now." Winter answered my question.

Now I think about it more, Winter's accent wasn't as strong in comparison to Weiss's. It was faint, but it was something you can definitely pick up.

"Ruby, why don't you take Weiss and get a glimpse." Winter tossed Weiss the key to gain access to the room. "You might find something that will tickle your fancy. Weiss also needs go out a little bit more. Plus, my afternoon nap is long overdue."

"I do go out for your information," Weiss denied, shooting a stern finger at her sister.

"Hanging out with Blake does not count," Winter chided.

"That doesn't even make sense!"

It made me wondered who this Blake person was. Perhaps one day I'll get to meet her.

Weiss sighed as she couldn't be bothered to argue against her sister. With nothing left to lose, we share a look with each other and silently agreed at Winter's suggestion. We followed her verbal direction and made our way to the lone building right smack in the middle of the property.

Once we gained access through the entry, Weiss flipped the switch to illuminate the dark room and we admired the all sort of nifty things that it had to offer. There was a billiard table, ping pong table, a high top table probably for old fashion checkers or chess, a television screen, a couch, and more awesome things.

"How interesting," Weiss brushed her hands against the woollen cloth weaved into the billiard table.

I picked up two cue sticks for the both of us since we were already here.

"Have you ever played?" I handed her a cue stick and she made her way to the other side of table.

"Once or twice. I have a good idea of the rules," her head mildly bobbed to tell me how iffy she was. "You?"

"A few times," I shrugged, trying not to be boastful. I rested the butt end of the cue stick onto the floor and leaned into it, trying to act suave. "You know... If you need help I can give you some cool lessons."

Weiss hummed as she leaned forward onto the table. I watched her carefully line up her cue stick to the white ball and observed how her eyes narrowed in concentration. In one stroke, she thrusted her cue stick. The cue ball collided with the pyramid of balls with a loud, sharp crack and she perfectly broke the arrangement with ease much like how a professional would.

Everything scattered. No balls were left untouched. Meanwhile, I stood there with my jaw dropped foolishly ajar.

Oh my god.

She's _actually_ really good in billiards.

I gulped and watched those blue eyes turn and pass on the challenge to me. She moved away with a sly smile, and I nervously shuffled around the table to find a good angle. When I did found something that seemed relatively easy enough, I tucked the cue stick beneath my index finger on my guiding hand, but it didn't stop me from shaking.

No matter how many deep breaths I took, I was completely nervous under Weiss's watch. I wanted to show off to her — impress her with my mediocre skills at least. But my plans were sinking much like titanic, Weiss being the big bad iceberg.

I inhaled another deep breath and tried to steady my hands. Still with the revolve to impress Weiss, I thrusted the cue stick in hopes she would be in awe with my skills. And I had to say, she was _pretty_ impressed.

She was amazed that the stick scratched the cue ball at the corner and completely missed like how a first timer would. The white ball moved a mere centimeter from its original position, taunting me as my fears came true.

I hung my head dejectedly low at how terrible I was at this game.


	41. Chapter 41: Ruby

_**Ruby**_

"That wasn't —" Weiss tried not to laugh, but she was finding it excruciating painful not to. " _That_ bad."

"Says the person who played _once_ or _twice_ ," I muttered, still quite dejected at how bad I missed the cue ball.

"That's because I used to fence as a child," Weiss gave me a reason not to be so hard on myself after she finished snickering. "When I think about it, they weren't so far off from each other. They both involved careful precision. Then next thing I knew it, I was a natural when I first played billiards."

"Do you still fence?"

"No," she scoffed and rolled her eyes in the other direction. Her hand found its way over to her eye, rubbing it or tracing along her skin. Whatever she was doing, she was probably trying to get dust out or something. "That was a long time ago."

My shoulders slumped forward and I tried not to pout at her natural gifted talents.

I really wanted to woo her with my abilities.

"Would you like me to teach you?" Weiss kindly asked. She leaned into the cue stick that she gently placed upwards. "You know, I can give you _cool_ lessons."

"Ha. Ha. Ha." I said slowly and dryly when she copied my exact statement. Her attempts of humor did cheered me up. "Sure." I shrugged at the thought of the free lesson.

"Very well then. Position yourself how you would accordingly," Weiss instructed.

I did as I was told and leaned forward onto the table, letting the cue stick sit underneath the bridge of my index finger while I gripped the butt end of the stick tightly. My feet parted enough to keep me steady and I looked at Weiss for her approval.

"Like this?"

"You need to relax more," Weiss shook her head. She made her way over next to me and tapped all my mistakes. "Loosen your grip." I did. "Align yourself vertically with the shot and aim wherever you want the ball to travel to. I assume you learned a bit of physics in class?"

I nodded, and she clapped her hand.

"Perfect. Now trying hitting the cue ball."

I did as I was told and I missed again. The stick skimmed the surface of the ball and I looked back to Weiss, shrinking at the outcome.

"At least it moved more than a centimeter right?" I chuckled at my failure.

"Okay, new plan…" Weiss murmured. She slid behind me, her chin right above my shoulder, and tried to correct my stance.

Oh my goodness.

S-She's… She's...

"You have your off-hand sort of correct."

My heart roared at what she was doing.

I tried to ignore her breath grazing against my skin, but it was _extremely_ hard to. Her blue eyes burned straight down towards the billiard table while mine could only blankly stare at the side of her face.

She was close, so close enough that I could feel her warmth expelling out from her body.

"You want to hold the cue stick right here," Weiss instructed. She shifted my hand a little higher than where I previously had it. "Then you want to move your arm back and forth like a pendulum…"

Her soft hands placed on top of mine and she showed me what she meant, her hands guiding me along the way.

"Then you want to..."

Her accented voice gradually waned in my subconsciousness.

It was hard to listen to Weiss when I was too busy admiring her at a side view. I had never seen her this up close and personal before. I could see the fine details of her skin. Like how pale her complexion, the invisible peach fuzz on her cheeks, the small indents on her lips, how her gorgeous blue eyes sparkled like an ocean on a hot summer day, and the faint scar on her eye hidden underneath her makeup… Which was something I actually never noticed before.

"Ruby are you even listening?"

She turned over her shoulders, and thank the gods, we avoided an awkward accident. However, it didn't help me as much when her face was a mere inch away from mine. She was _waaay_ too close, and it rendered me speechless.

Weiss frowned at my unusual silence.

"Are you sure you're not sick…?" Weiss placed a hand on my forehead. My spine shivered at the difference of our temperatures.

I knew for a fact I was blushing. I was practically a hot desert sunshine that radiated waves of heat. I tried to snap myself out of it. But oh, what a challenge it was. I regret flicking my eyes down from her pool-like orbs to her full lips. They hypnotized me, urging me to follow my heart's desire. There was that overwhelmingly strong feeling in me that wanted to close that distance.

But I knew better.

"Y-yeah!" I reluctantly pulled myself away from her hand. Well… Mostly pulling myself away from her entire being. "I'm feeling fantastic! What makes you think that?" I tried to quickly cover up everything.

"Well," Weiss placed a hand on her hips. "Your face felt kind of hot."

"The room can get a little stuffy sometimes," I awkwardly laughed it off.

"Are you —"

"Hey look!" I pointed my finger across to change the subject. "There's a ping pong table. Let's try that out!"

Weiss never questioned my unusual behavior and followed behind me.

I made my way over to grab two ping pong paddles before sighing in relief.

Imagined if we kissed… I wonder what chaos that would ensue...


	42. Chapter 42: Weiss, Present Day

_**Weiss, Present Day**_

"What would you think would happen if we kissed?" I softly chuckled.

I gently pressed my thumb against the bottom of her lips and traced along the edges. They were impeccably smooth and surprisingly not dry from our short pecks and lengthy kisses. My legs still dangled on the edge of the billiard table as I sat right on top of it. I pulled myself away from my girlfriend's forehead but not before tapping her shoulders so I can let myself down from above.

"The world would've exploded." She mimicked a sound of explosion. "At least mine would've. Then chaos and all sorts of awkwardness follows right after that. You will probably avoid me and I'll probably sulk for a really long time."

"Hmm," I tapped my chin thoughtfully while striding towards the direction of ping pong table. "Sounds about right to me."

"Remember when we played table tennis the first time?" Ruby handed me a paddle and made her way to the opposite side of the table. She served and the ball bounced towards me.

"Oh goodness gracious," I sighed when I recollect my memories. I hit the ball back. "Please don't remind me..."

It bounced back and forth a couple of times.

"I don't plan to remind you," Ruby's lips quirked. "You're going to remind me."

The game went on at a friendly pace. We weren't actively trying to work ourselves until Ruby picked it up when she struck the ball much harder.

"Why me?" I made a return when I hit back. "You already know what happened."

"It's your turn to tell me what you remember," Ruby smiled as she received and returned it.

I struck back twice as hard and this time the ball darted at an angle. Ruby lunged for it and she miraculously saved it. The ping pong ball flew in the air, hit my side of the table, and bounced out.

"Impressed?" Ruby smirked from the floor. She tried ending it with a laid out suggestive pose. Smooth, suave, everything that Ruby tried and sometimes failed at.

But this time, I was truly impressed at her play.

"When did you learned that?" I walked over towards her to haul her off the floor. I casually lifted her chin and noticed a tiny scrape below when she performed her silly act.

"Never did. It was just instincts," she said proudly. "Are you planning to kiss my booboo?" She raised her chin higher and I snorted at her attempt.

"No," I huffed out. I carefully inspected it, and thankfully, it wasn't more than just a scratch. "I don't want to taste your germ covered scrape."

"Ehh..." She shrugged casually. "My cells at work. Besides, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger." Ruby giggled and pushed her chin near my mouth.

"Eww. No. Ruby. Stop." I pushed her face away but that encouraged her to persistently push back harder. She looked silly with her face smush against my palm. Her mouth even dared to slobber against my skin.

"Buut Weiss," her voice was kind of muffled but still can be understood.

She was being her usual self — needy and starved for affection. So, I rolled my eyes and granted her wishes to keep her satisfied for the time being. I cupped her cheeks and reeled her in for a short kiss in which she gladly accepted.

"Better?" The question was redundant seeing that Ruby's sappy grin told me more than what I needed to know.

"One more?" She kindly pleaded. I was more than happy enough to throw a quick peck. "How about another?" It was cute that she politely asked for extras.

"Will it get me out from telling the story?"

"Nope!"

"Then that's it."

This time Ruby rolled her eyes at me. She brought our held hand up to her lips and kissed the back of my hand like how a knight in shining armor would do for his princess. Then, she pulled my arms where I can rest them above her shoulders and she simpered.

"You're still telling me it," she reminded. I flicked her forehead, but it did not faze her. Her mushy smile still lingered on her face.

"Not like I can get out of it." I brushed away the foreign dirt particles that blemish Ruby's fair skin.

We stood there in each other's arms with Ruby's never-ending smiles as I began to recall our earlier days.

* * *

 **Wonder if anyone caught that reference/liner. If not, then you're missing out on a educational but cute anime.**


	43. Chapter 43: Weiss

_**Weiss**_

The paddle felt bizarre in my hands. I inspected the light racket meticulously considering it was my first time holding one.

"Are you good at table tennis too?"

I pulled my attention away from the laminated wood and noticed Ruby wryly grinning.

"No," I answered truthfully. "Never played before."

I watched Ruby twirled her racket in her hands but not before picking up a small hollow ball.

"It's like tennis," she explained. "But smaller and harder. We can try it out so you can get your feet wet."

She served the ball and it bounced once on my side. It traveled slow, easy enough for me to anticipate which direction it went. As I raised my small paddle to bat the lightweight ball back, I perfectly missed when I judged the distance wrong.

I deeply frowned at how my paddle grazed nothing but air and at how especially difficult this sport appeared to be. Meanwhile, Ruby held a hand to her mouth to keep herself from laughing.

"That wasn't —" She tried really hard not to. I cocked my hips and lifted an eyebrow high enough to my hairline probably. " _That_ bad."

"Let's go again," I said. The competitive side of me slowly drew out and Ruby happily accepted the challenge.

"How about we make it more interesting?"

"And how do we do that?"

"Easy." The way she spun her racket in her palms taunted me a little. "The person who scores asks a question. But regardless of the question either of us ask, we both have to answer it."

"Fair enough," I accepted her creative proposition and readied my stance.

Ruby served another time, and once more, the ball bounced on my side over the net. I swung my paddle, but once again, I missed when it sprung right past me.

"What's your favorite color?" Ruby asked with a victorious smile.

"White."

"Red."

She served again and the same exact thing happened.

"Favorite food?"

"Blueberries."

"Cookies."

My shoulders slumped and I knitted my brows at her answer. "Ruby, that's not a food," I retorted.

Much to my dismay, she caught me by surprise when she took advantage of my distraction. The ping pong ball went over my shoulders and I blinked at what just happened.

"If it's edible, then it's food in my book," she clearly justified. Then she followed up with a next question. "Favorite animal?"

"Dogs," I responded quite easily

Ruby nodded her head. "Totally dogs."

The ball rebound off the table as Ruby, once again, scored.

"Do you drink coffee?"

"Yes," I answered her. Coffee was a big part of my life. How can someone not drink coffee, and yet, have not succumb to the gruelling mornings.

"How do you take your—"

"Ah ah ah," I raised my finger, being witty and what not. "One question only remember?"

Not to my surprise, it didn't take much effort for Ruby to make another score… Again.

"How do you take your coffee?"

"Black." My lips tugged down.

"Cream and five sugars."

I winced at what she have just told me. "That's a bit too much don't you think?"

"Makes it bearable," she shrugged. Then she scored another. "Want to get coffee sometime together?"

"Sure," I shrugged.

"Sweet."

Then again.

"Favorite ice cream?"

"Vanilla."

"Strawberry."

"The classics," I nodded and approved her answers.

"So when are you going to score on me?" Ruby snickered when I failed to return another one of her serves.

"Oh hush. Besides, that's not even a question we can both equally answer to. This is so one-sided." I wasn't exactly the type of person to complain, but it slipped out. Beats me how I can easily fence, but yet, cannot even get a single shot in at Ruby.

Ruby served an additional time. The ball bounced on my side over the net and I carefully eyed the ball that ricocheted against the hard surface. It rotated in the air freely, and I licked my upper lips. Putting all my resolve in one hit, I successfully returned her serve and the ball darted towards the ceiling.

And to my horror, the paddle slipped right out of my hand and nailed Ruby right on the face.


	44. Chapter 44: Weiss

_**Weiss**_

"I-I am terribly so sorry." I rushed over to her side without bearing a second thought.

Ruby silently hissed at the impact and covered half of her face with a hand. Her paddle immediately left her side as it instantly collapsed onto the floor. I don't know if I should call the emergency line or —

"I'm okay Weiss," Ruby reassured me. But the way she still nursed the brunt force did nothing to convince me. "Really I am."

Oddly, she presented me a bright smile. Half of it was hidden under her palm. It was something you would never expect from a person who got smacked in the face by a flying light-wood object.

"Are you sure?" I asked in concern.

"Yeah yeah." She stood before me softly laughing. "That was your first hit. It was really good. Even if it was aimed right at me."

Despite how she tried to make me feel better, I was still concerned over her wellbeing.

"Ruby," I gently removed her hand away from her face. Between my thumb and my index finger, I lifted her chin and turned her cheeks side to side, inspecting her face further to see how much damage I had done. "Are you truly alright?"

Ruby answered with a completely blank stare.

I could make out a red outline from the paddle edges right between the valley of her eye and her nose bridge. I sighed while I traced the vivid colored line with a thumb.

"Hopefully the mark will disappear soon. I am sincerely sorry, Ruby. I really didn't mean to."

I glanced up to meet her eyes, but hers were already staring impassively right at me. I had never noticed how silver they were, certainly an unusual color. They were like twin silver moons, a rarity I have to say. Her orbs shimmered with bright radiance much like how our full moon did.

"Ruby?" I cocked my had.

It barely occurred to me that we were fairly close in proximity. She always seems so quiet every time we were, something that was out of her behavior.

"Don't worry Weiss," Ruby broke out of her silence with a ghost of a smile. Her face suddenly softened. She delicately took my hand and lower it back to my side away from her face, the digits on my finger slowly dragging against her cheeks when she did so. She knelt down to retrieve her paddle, not before pushing her asymmetrical hair to the side to keep them from obscuring her sight. "I'm fine."

My shoulders relaxed when I heavily exhaled.

"Want to give it another shot?" She promptly asked as she waved her paddle in front of me.

"I don't know Ruby…" I rubbed my arm hesitantly. I didn't want repeat another mishap.

"It was an accident Weiss. Don't be discouraged," Ruby reasoned with me. "I suck at billiards and you suck at ping pong." She then shrugged at me like no big deal. "Maybe one day I might accidentally send a pool ball flying and we'll be even."

"Please don't." A smile managed to sliver its way onto my lips. "Those can be excruciating painful."

"Then we better get practicing," she chuckled.


	45. Chapter 45: Ruby, Present Day

**_Ruby, Present Day_**

"You actually almost did hit me with one of those billiard balls later in the future," Weiss scolded me once she finished retelling a minor fraction of our past together.

We were still standing off to the side of the ping pong table as we haven't budged from our spot.

"How would I know the ball would jump out of the boundaries when I hit it," I defended. I nonchalantly swung our held hands side to side knowing Weiss wouldn't mind. I couldn't stop smiling when she spoke about our past.

Looking back, it was hard to hold onto my self control especially with how dense Weiss was. There were times where I had to fight off the urge from leaning forward to keep myself from sharing an unexpected kiss. Sometimes I had to physically tear myself away to keep myself from doing something I might regret.

Overall… It was difficult.

But now… I'm glad that I don't have to hold myself back anymore. I'm happy that I can share a kiss with Weiss. I'm happy that I can hold her until she feels suffocated. And, I'm happy that I can freely tell her the special three words.

"I was under the impression that you had taken a physics class. I would think you knew where to hit and how much force to apply. You're lucky that I anticipated it before it landed on my feet."

"Eehh," I turned the other way with a guilty smile. "It's hard to do calculations when I have something else running on my mind all time."

"Like what?" She dared to ask, as if she didn't know the answer already.

"You," I replied cheekily. It earned me a flick on the forehead, but I was still rewarded with the sight of her blushing. It was cute to see her face flushed with embarrassment.

"It's hard to believe that we ended up in the same university together," she sharply huffed.

I hummed before I pulled away and led her to the couch. We sat down, Weiss leaning into me, and we stared at nothing but a blank television screen. Her legs and arms somehow got tangled into mine when she tried to get more comfortable. She wrapped herself into me and my heart still skipped when she suddenly became affectionate.

"With all that tutoring from you, how can I not get into the same university?" I smiled crookedly.

"Because you like to procrastinate. It's amazing how you did as well as I did on the entrance exams."

"Want to know the secret to it?" My face invaded her personal bubble, not like it made a difference considering how tightly attached she was to me. When she turned towards me, it was adorable to see how she tried to keep a straight face under my presence. I knew it was only a matter of seconds before I see it crack and fall apart.

"What?" She asked, cute that she was genuinely clueless.

Biting back a smile, I homed in right next to her ear. _"It's because I'm madly in love with you."_ I pulled away just in time to get a glimpse of Weiss's reaction. And most definitely, I was pleased that her poker face shattered and her skin flushed royal red.

I hummed again while I detached myself from girlfriend's loosened grip and proceeded to get up from the couch. She didn't seem to register the sudden shift when she sat there like a broken automaton.

But I always knew how to fix her and pull her right out of her stupor.

"Weiss," I swooped behind the couch and gave her a peck on the cheek before making my way over out the door. "I'm going to make lunch now. If you don't get up, I might accidentally burn down the apartment."

Three...

Two…

One...

"R-R-Ruuby!"

* * *

 **To those who might be confused with the timeline, here's a summary: Weiss moved away from Atlas to Vale right at the beginning of high school. She met Ruby three years later, which marks the junior year of high school. The present day is another three years after that, so they should currently be sophomore in standing for college. Also, it's been previously stated that they've been together for three years (:**


	46. Chapter 46: Weiss, Present Day

_**Weiss, Present Day**_

Dolt.

Dolt.

Dolt.

But yet, _my_ dolt.

I simply observed Ruby across the table as she performed a silly classical trick where she tried to hang a spoon on her nose. I have to admit, it got my attention. The spoon did not prematurely fall off as it suspended on her nose.

Impressive…

"Look Weiss!" Ruby said cheerfully. Her eyes crossed when she continued to stare at her spoon with a victorious grin.

"You know what would be tragic?" I hummed innocently, but Ruby obviously saw my facade.

"No." Her smile crumbled when she knew right off the bat what nefarious things I was plotting. It comes with the territory when she spent most of her time with me. "Weiss, don't you dare."

Ruby knew I adopted a few bad habits from her. Some of it were childish things that the mature side of me would be appalled at. But they were never rashly done out in public. I mean after all, I do have some pride. They were only for Ruby, and _only for Ruby_ , to see this inappropriate part of me.

 _Flick!_

A green pea flew from my plate, sailed across the table, and defiled Ruby's face. I drew a wicked smirk, proud and amused that I hit my target. _Headshot_. Is what it was called, the exact term I overheard when I watched Ruby played one of her video games.

The spoon fell down and clattered onto the table noisily. Ruby rewarded me with a scowl, her cheek bone now stained with a wet blotch where the pea had assaulted her.

"You know…" Ruby retaliated back as she flicked her last pea directly at me. To my horror, it catapulted into my scoop-neck tank top and fell down into the pits of no man's land. "You're a Bee You Tee Tee."

She flashed a triumphant and delighted look when I went fishing into my shirt to retrieve the greased vegetable. It wasn't hard to find considering it stood right on the seamed bridge like some tightrope walker.

"I know I'm a beauty," I replied quite smugly despite what she had spelled out. Using the bare minimum of my fingers, I tossed the disgusting pea back onto my plate once I successfully salvaged it out.

"Yeah you are." Her voice resonated deeply when she purred. She leaned forward and didn't bother to hide her infatuating smile to my very _humble_ response. "Should we clean up or should we stare into each other's eyes."

My lips curled naturally. I knew Ruby is a hopeless romantic.

"Be a dear and help me clean."

"Aww," Ruby deflated. "You know I hoping you would choose the latter."

It didn't take long for two people to tidy the kitchen. Then again, I wasn't a disastrous cook to begin with unlike Ruby. A few moments after we finished cleaning, we got comfortable on the couch. But it didn't take long for our peace to be disturbed. The doorbell rang and I shot a knowing look to Ruby. She proceeded to roll her eyes and silently tributed herself to answer the door since we already knew who the visitor was anyways.

"Hello Mr. Schnee," I overheard Ruby's welcome.

"Miss Rose. Pleasure to see you again."

"Come on in!"

I heard footsteps coming into the direction of the living. And lo and behold, my father graced me his presence the second time in the day.

"Hello Weiss," he greeted.

"Hello father."

"How was your lunch?" My father tried to make the atmosphere less uneasy as it was.

"Fantastic," I curtly answered, deciding to do the exact opposite by making it worse.

I was still uncertain how I feel about him. In all honesty, I had the rights to be furious considering he just suddenly came into my life. But I couldn't find the agitation, frustration, or anguish in me no matter how hard I searched. I didn't know why. I didn't know how. Ruby had something to do with it. But I did knew that I was upset. It took him years and probably a traumatizing experience to realize what he had done. But it wasn't enough to condone the past.

"Have a seat, Mr. Schnee. Would you like any water?" Ruby kindly offered when she trailed past him from behind. She could easily sense the tension and hoped to lighten it by tackling from the source.

She sat down on the couch and casually sneaked an arm around my shoulders while her leg crossed in the process.

It was mildly working.

"No thank you," he politely smiled.

Gag me with a spoon.

Once he sat down, Ruby immediately jumped to the topic of why we were all gathered here today.

"Let's see… Where to begin," she began tapping her chin.

"Your first impression of my oldest daughter was quite something," he remarked.

"It was," Ruby lightheartedly giggle as she admitted it. "Weiss, do you want to start?"

"Not particularly," I shrugged, letting Ruby decide where she wanted to begin.

"Okay if you insist…" She droned.

Ruby gave a faint smile. It wasn't lively like the one she flashed day to day on the normal basis. I saw the corner twitched as she fought them from falling down.

And from that, I knew where this was going.

* * *

 **Hah.**

 **Bee You Tee Tee: Beauty or Butt.**

 **And yes, I sometimes flick peas at my housemates. If I'm feeling fancy, I sometimes use edamame.**


	47. Chapter 47: Ruby

_**Ruby**_

My mind had been bothering me the entire morning.

It kept pestering me even when I tried not to dwell in it. But I couldn't exactly stop. I kept thinking back to what Yang had said the other day.

It wasn't until after I hung out with Weiss on the weekend that I realized Yang wasn't wrong. With how the billiard and ping pong game turned out, Weiss probably didn't think of it as anything unusual. She stood there and looked at me like she would for anyone with those caring eyes of her. Meanwhile, I stood there foolishly silent with my heart wild thrashing for her. Our faces weren't far apart from each other during the time, but Weiss saw it nothing but normal — something she probably would do for a friend.

I quietly shuddered when I remember her hands reached out to my face where the racket had nailed me.

Her warmth burned my skin as they traced the pain away. They were slender and callous. They were not perfect as I could feel the hardships she encountered and endured through her hands. But they were perfect to me.

I wanted them to continue brushing the red temporary marred path on my face, but I had to reluctantly drag them away before I did something rashly stupid.

"You okay Ruby?"

I blinked when the voice registered in my head. I looked up from my desk and noticed Jaune staring right at me in concern.

"Y-Yeah I'm fine." I pointed my chin down to my desk. We were at school waiting for class to be in session. "What… What makes you think I'm not?"

"Well," Jaune started. "You keep touching your face…"

My eyes widen at the sudden realization and I jerked my hand away, feeling a bit flustered.

"Something hit me on the face the other day," I tried playing it off normally. "I could still feel it… Sting."

Stinging with her warmth.

"Crater face," Jaune wrinkled his nose with a side smile.

"Shut up Vomit boy," I stood on his ground with the same smirk he flaunted.

"Oh come on! That was one time!" Jaune rolled his eyes.

"And you retching burns vividly in my memories," I snickered. "Eating _four_ whole unsalted sticks of butter to impress a girl does not work."

"It was five…" He mumbled softly as if it was some kind of award winning accomplishment.

"Even worse," I deadpanned.

"At least I don't have objects flying towards my face like some kind of magnetic attraction," he countered.

"That happened twice," I shot back.

Then a basketball suddenly smashed through the school's window like some asteroid and struck my face.

"RUBY!"

I heard a crowd of voices simultaneously call out. It knocked me out of my chair and I hissed at the stinging pain. My hand immediately went to nurse over the discomfort, but I halted when I felt beads of glass clinging to my cheek. Shattered glass fell down to the floor and my palm haphazardly stepped all over them.

My body became light as feather when Yang and Jaune hauled me off the floor. They were carrying me to somewhere. I didn't know where. My eyes were half shut most of the time.

But god.

It hurts.


	48. Chapter 48: Ruby

_**Ruby**_

I sat on the bed in the nurse's office with Ms. Peach, the school's nurse, tending my face.

She eyed the side of my face meticulously to look for any stray glass before patching my cheek. Thankfully I didn't need to seek any dire medical attention. I was lucky that none of the shattered glass cut my skin any deeper to where I needed stitches, or at least, impaled any of my eyes. I was left with a few bleeding scratches and maybe an incoming bruise from how the ball struck me. My face hurts but I did soldier on.

"You should be good now, Miss Rose." Ms. Peach sighed in relief once she finished her work.

"Thank goodness," I breathed out in relief as much as she did. "Is it okay if I sit here for awhile?"

"Yes yes of course," the nurse nodded as she still seemed worried at my state. "Never in my career had I ever heard of a ball smash through a window. Honestly, that's quite ridiculous." She shook head in disapproval. "How on earth does a ball manage to crash into the window?"

I shrugged in response because I was clueless as much as she was.

"Take it easy for now Miss Rose. I don't want you to strain yourself even more."

Ms. Peach left me to tend to her business.

I heavily sighed and sunk into the bed.

This sucks.

Maybe Jaune was right… Maybe my face does have some kind of weird attraction for inanimate objects. I frowned at that thought and rolled my eyes to another incoming idea.

Hah. If only my face could attract Weiss instead…

 _Show that you're interested in her._

I heard Yang's voice echoing through my head when I recalled what she had said earlier. My hair strew in different directions when I ran my fingers through them.

 _Send in a couple of subtle text messages that is opened up for interpretations._

I grunted out another heavy sigh as I kept dwelling on it.

Maybe I should text her.

But…

She's probably in class… That wouldn't be a good idea. She'll yell at me if she thinks I'm not paying attention. That'll probably add on to the bad impression on her list if she had one. But what the heck am I supposed to do in the nurse's office?

A soft knock came through the door and I perked up to see the door slowly creaking open. I tried guessing what misfortune had befallen on the next student and how they wound up in the nurse's office, but the hissing hushed voices told me that they weren't here to get patched up.

"Can you stop pushing?"

"Can you go in already? Don't be a wuss man."

"I am not a wuss!"

"Can you boys just shut up and walk in?"

I kneaded the bridge of my nose as I recognize the idiotic voices coming through the door. Yang, Jaune, and Sun came striding in as I have accurately guessed.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked.

"We ditched class to see if you're alright!" Yang said proudly. "But seriously… Are you alright?" She wrinkled her nose in concern as she studied my face.

"Yeah," I shrugged. "I'm fine. But why bring the peanut gallery?"

Yang harshly slapped Sun on the back, making him advance a few steps forward.

"Sorry," Sun murmured as his head dejectedly hung low. "The basketball going to your face was my fault. Some students from Beacon High came over to our school and started some trouble. Then he kicked the ball out of my hands and it flew towards the window. And the rest… You can guess."

"Oh... I-It's alright. It's not like it was on purpose."

I turned to Jaune with a pensive look, wondering why he's here too.

"You alright Crater Face?" Jaune frowned. "I think I might be on to something about the face and the magnetic attraction."

"Hah," I rolled my eyes. "I think so too… Um… Is it okay if you two leave the room. There's something I want to talk with Yang with."

"Sure thing."

"Of course."

Jaune and Sun's response came out simultaneously and they both left the room.

"What's up Rubes?" Yang sat down onto the bed next to me. Her worried expression still hung on her face.

"I need advice..."


	49. Chapter 49: Weiss

_**Weiss**_

A pair of hands cupped over my eyes while I waited patiently for the bus to roll by. My lips curled into a frown when my sight had been hindered. At first, I would have thought this would be an attempt of kidnapping, but I wasn't that foolish. No idiot would abduct me at broad daylight. It was one of those childish 'Guess Who' games I often see.

And I decided to play along.

"Um…" I mumbled contemplatively. I reached over my shoulders and traced the person's face.

I started with her jawline and slowly moved up her skin. My fingertips felt every fine details and curves to paint a image in my head until they brushed some kind of… Gauze?

"Ow," the girl hissed and retracted her hands.

The high pitched voice gave the person away.

"Ruby?" I spun around on my toes and face her.

Ruby offered a sheepish smile, her fingers lamely touching her injury to soothe the pain away.

"Hey Weiss."

"Oh my god, what happened to you?" I took a step forward to pull her hand away to keep them from touching her own cheek even more. My heart tugged with guilt considering I hit her with a racket the other day.

"I fought a… Um… Raccoon!"

"Really?" I deadpanned.

"It was a big raccoon…"

"The truth, Ruby." I demanded.

Her shoulders shrunk forward and her head was downcast.

"A basketball crashed through the classroom's window and hit me…"

" _What?"_ My face pulled back in disbelief.

Her bottom lips pulled forward, and before I even realized what I was doing, my hand pulled up to her face and gently stroked her other unscathed cheek.

"Are you okay?" I looked at her softly and deeply with concern.

"No…" Her eyes instantly darted to the floor and she leaned into my touch. She stayed like that until her eyes suddenly flung wide and she jerked herself away. "I-I think I'm better now."

I knew she wasn't. She had that odd look on her face. Her eyes scrambled around, looking anywhere but me for some reason. Off to the side, I could hear the bus's engine sighing when it pulled over to the curb. I watched students climb over the steps with the corner of my eyes and I sighed, a tiny smile forming on my lips.

"Come on Ruby." I grabbed her wrist and tugged her along with me. We went the opposite direction from the bus. "Let's go get some ice cream."

* * *

 **I like my Weiss as a useless lesbian if you haven't noticed.**


	50. Chapter 50: Ruby

_**Ruby**_

I watched Weiss indulge on a creamy ice cream coated with a chocolate shell.

"Weiss…" I knitted my eyebrows when I continued to observe her. It hurts to watch even given how pretty she is. "That's not how you eat the ice cream."

"Nonsense." She bit on the rich chocolate shell, purposely avoiding the velvety vanilla ice cream. I winced as it pained me to see how wrong it was.

"You're supposed to eat the chocolate _with_ the ice cream. Not eat the chocolate _then_ the ice cream," I said to her as I took a bite of mine.

"This is how I eat my ice cream."

"It's an abomination. It hurts as much as my cheek."

"Boohoo," she drew out a breathy but sarcastic chuckle. "Should I cry you a river?"

"Pfft," I snorted out a laugh. "You're a Bee-You-Tee-Tee."

"Did you just called me a butt?" She darted a scowl at me

I took another bite into my ice cream and continued to stare at the floor. "Would you believe me if I said beauty?"

"Pfft," she restrained a laugh. "Not really."

I silently smiled to myself and momentarily closed my eyes as I thought back to my conversation with Yang.

* * *

 _"I need more advice…" I meekly said to my cousin._

 _"What for?" She gave me an awry look._

 _"Sometimes when I'm with Weiss, she drives me crazy. Not the mentally deranged crazy, but the falling in love kind of crazy. And I don't know what to do! She makes me weak around the knees and I feel like I'm losing my self-control."_

 _"Then tell her," Yang shrugged._

 _"What?" My face pulled back._

 _"Tell her," she repeated again. "If she's that dense, she'll never see you anything more than a friend. At this rate, you're going to get hurt in the end if you don't do anything about your feelings. Sure you can let it grow and blossom... But what good will that do if you get rejected in the end? It's not easy to stop liking someone Ruby. It's a long road. Trust me, I've been there."_

 _"But what if telling her my feelings destroys our friendship?"_

 _"Well…" Yang scratched the back of her neck. "It's a leap of faith honestly. Do you believe that will happen?"_

 _"No... Well... I don't know," I casted my eyes down. "I'm scared of the results."_

 _"No matter what the results are… Do you still want to be her friend?"_

 _"Of course!" I blurted out without a sliver of hesitation. I shrunk when I realized I was too loud for my liking._

 _"I think you know what to do Ruby."_

* * *

"Ruby. Hello, Ruby?" Weiss tilted her head my way.

I blinked out of my daze and turned my attention to her. "Hmm?"

"Are you falling asleep?" Weiss raised an eyebrow.

"Ah… No?"

"You're a terrible liar you know. Then why —"

Our eyes shot wide when my ice cream fell from my stick. The wooden stick had finally pierced through the ice cream as the sun melted away the cold layer. I didn't pay careful attention to my ice cream as I was engrossed with my memories. Weiss reflexively reached out and caught a hold of the falling catastrophe before it tainted either my shoes or clothes.

"It's cold," Weiss hissed out with a distinguishable shiver. "What do I do with this?!"

"Uhhh," I panicked. I didn't know what to do either. Littering is bad. There wasn't any trash cans around. It'll be a sticky mess if we throw it on the floor. "Let me hold your ice cream first."

Weiss did pass on her ice cream to me.

"Then what?!" She hissed impatiently. The ice cream started pooling into a gross mess on her palms. She turned to me, hoping to come up with a solution.

And I did.

Fighting back a laugh, I bit into her ice cream; it was her problem now.

"R-Ruby!"


	51. Chapter 51: Weiss

**_Weiss_**

"Weeiisss! I said I was sorry!"

"No."

"But Weiss!"

"No."

"Forgive me!"

"No."

"Please?"

"Let me think about it Ruby..." I paused from walking and turned to her. My face contorted into some kind of train of thought, but it didn't matter since I already made my decision before hand. "No."

"Oh come on!"

"No."

"I'm going to keep begging for forgiveness until my cheek kills me."

"No."

"Please Weiss?"

"No."

"I won't do it again!"

"No."

"Don't be like that!"

"No."

"No," I replied again before Ruby had the chance to speak. I already knew what she was going to say anyways.

"But I didn't say anything!"

"No."

"Are you that mad?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"No."

"So does that mean you'll forgive me?"

"No."

"Awww…" Ruby slumped down, her head dropping in final defeat. "You're so cold…"

I temporarily stopped in my tracks when the word cold left her lips. It was a familiar word. I was acquainted with it for a really long time. It was like an old friend. It never broke my spirits as I gotten use to it. But when Ruby mentioned it… It felt… Strange.

It didn't sit with me well.

"Weiss?" Ruby paused too.

"I was always a cold person Ruby," I sighed.

"No you're not."

I turned to her and gave her an eye full of disagreement.

"You're not a cold person Weiss," Ruby begged to differ. "You're sweet. You're always concern for my well being. You even bought me ice cream!"

"That's all superficial." I resumed walking. I kept my eyes glued to the ground, pathetically lowering them. "At heart, there's something much worse that I keep locked away."

"The Ice Queen?" Ruby questioned hesitantly as she followed behind.

I completely stopped once more when my legs froze at the old nickname. "D-Did you hear that from school?" My nails dug into my skin when I balled my hands into a fist. I didn't like the name. It floated through the hallways like a whispering wind when I first transferred in freshman year.

Ruby nodded when she caught up to me. "Yeah. How did you get the name anyways? It sounds better than Crater Face. Ice Queen sounds really cool. Ah… No pun intended of course."

"It's not a great name. I got it because I'm a cold person," I weakly shrugged, anxiously rubbing my arm. "I told you. I'm not that nice."

"But you are nice…" Ruby frowned as she stood by her statement. "You're so kind and gentle. I don't get why people would say such a thing. You're nothing —"

"You don't know me," I whispered to her, my voice trembling in the process.

"Weiss...?" She timidly called out.

"You don't know me at all." I gnawed my lips. "You wouldn't accept the real me."

Ruby anxiously rubbed the side of her neck, her eyes darting to the floor like mine. "That's not true... I like all the sides of you…"

"I doubt that. You wouldn't like this one."

"How can you be so certain?"

I paused for a few seconds before I answered quietly. "Experience." It rolled off my tongue in distaste, and my shoulders shrunk with it. If my peers from Beacon didn't like it, why would Ruby?

"Weiss, I'm not fragile." Her arms slipped over my shoulders when she carefully pulled me into a hug. She did it slow to give me enough time to pull away if I was uncomfortable, but I didn't. I flinched, but I stood there with arms attached to my side. "You're right that I don't know you that well. But I'm learning everything about you aren't I? Fake or not, everything you showed to me is real. It's a part of you, even this one that you kept hidden away. I won't judge you. I won't be the kind of person who would push you away. I'll be…" Ruby let out a low sigh and her voice softened. " _Anything_ you want me to be..."

"Ruby…" The sincerity in her voice touched my heart. I brought my shaking arms to reciprocate her hug, but they wrapped weakly around her sides as they barely made contact

"You don't need to keep it away from me."

"But..."

"I'll accept every part of you, Weiss. So don't hold back for my sake okay?"

I closed my eyes and my arms around her waist tightened a little.

"I need to hear you say okay Weiss."

My chin rested on her shoulder when I gradually relaxed into her hug. "Okay."

We stayed like this for a while until Ruby pulled away, smiling at me with reassurance.

"Ruby?"

"Yeah Weiss?"

My eyes flicked between hers and the floor until they finally had the courage to hold her gaze. I smiled and pulled my hair back behind my ear. I felt a slight blush coming from my cheeks as my gratitude came out genuine, just like her voice. How it left my lips felt unfamiliar, but I liked it.

"Thank you."


	52. Chapter 52: Ruby

_**Ruby**_

"Thank you."

That was all it took to steal the last of my breath. How her face colored with a perfect tinge of red, how her eyes shyly flicked up from the sidewalk and earnestly looked into mine, how her lips curled and prominently defined her cheekbones, how her voice softened from vulnerability and into sincerity… That's all it took.

"Of course Weiss." It came out more like a croak when I couldn't breathe properly.

The heat flowing from her body stung my skin despite it being just simple warmth. The way her arms hesitated in the beginning but tightened around my waist… I wanted to pull her into my arms again.

She brushed down the wrinkles on her uniform and flashed a smile. "Shall we get going?"

"Yeah…" I quietly nodded.

We took our time to head back home. There were times we struck a conversation, and other times we walked a good distance in silence. I didn't like the silence. Not because I was uncomfortable or anything. Quite the opposite actually. It was just… I just kept thinking over what Yang had said to me.

"Ruby," Weiss paused for a moment.

"Hm?" I halted when she stopped walking.

"There's no need to walk me further. Here is fine."

I looked around, now aware that we stood at a fork in the road. One path was a straight away to Weiss's apartment while the other routed to my own place.

"Wait… Why?" I cocked my head.

"I remember you told me you lived on the other direction," Weiss explained. "It's a far walk from my place."

"But I don't mind walking you all the way back home," I shrugged, hoping she would change her mind. I liked being with her. She was the highlight of my day even if we didn't have anything important to say.

"No no," she shook her head. I mentally deflated when she did. "I can walk myself back."

"Are you sure…?"

"I'm positive," she offered me a small smile. "Thank you though."

"Okay…" I scratched the side of cheek. Before I pivoted and parted ways with Weiss, she called my name.

"Ruby." There was no uncertainty behind her voice that I could discern. I gave her a pending look, waiting and willing to wait if she needed the time. "I'm not very good around people. It takes me awhile to meet new people such as you... But thank you."

It was that same smile she gave me before. The one that made my heart leap over mountains, the one that make the fine hairs on my arm stand and bowed to her attention… The one that I would give the world for.

"Thank you," she said again. "For striking a conversation with me. If you never did, I don't think we would've met again. And thank you… For being my friend."

I stood passively, speechless with what she said while she bid me with a wave. My feet shifted against the ground and my body tossed and turned when my mind kept yelling at me what I needed to do.

 _Show that you're interested in her._

I chewed my lips.

 _Show that you're interested in her._

Something balled in my throat

 _Show that you're interested in her._

The word friend echoed in my mind and it just kept echoing… Echoing in my empty heart as the noise resounded against the walls.

Left with one choice, my heels dug into the floor and I sprinted back to her.

"Weiss!" I called out her name. My mind pounded as it called me mad. I swallowed down the nervousness. I swallowed down my fears. I dug down in search to find that brave soul in me.

"Is something the matter?" Weiss turned to me when I stood in front of her.

Time paused as the world around me stopped. It was just her and I. The pressure intensified as she looked at me, clueless at what I was about to do. My body… My breath… My chest... Everything grew heavier.

Not from my sprint, but what came after.

"I like you."

* * *

 **I have created a poll**

 **To those who read the manhua, you should know that I am catching up to the current updates. At this rate, it wouldn't be too long. So, please vote for the fate of this story.**

 **Your options:**

 **1) Catch up to the update, diverge, and give a proper finisher for the story. I, as the reader, will be patient for a less than 1k chapter as I understand the writer will no longer have a 'template' to go off on.**

 **2) Catch up to the update, put it on a super long hiatus, and continue when a series of the original manhua chapter gets updated.**

 **Even though I have a good idea, I'd like to ask anyways.**


	53. Chapter 53: Weiss

_**Weiss**_

"I like you too?" I said to Ruby.

I didn't know why Ruby was in such a hurry to say it. At first glance, she looked conflicted. Then the next thing I knew it, her words came out in a blurt when she spoke. And now, her eyes steeled with resolve.

"No Weiss." Ruby firmly shook her head. "I like you _more_ than a friend." She closed in the distance between us, her face slightly flushed but her determination didn't burn out. Her voice grew louder like a declaration. "I have _romantic_ feelings for you."

"Romantic?" The word blew passed my lips when I whispered it, my tongue emphasized each syllable slowly.

I covered my mouth to hide a silent gasp once the gears in my head turned when I finally caught on what Ruby had meant. I flustered, my chest sinking into the depths of unknown warmth but yet in disorientation. All the things we had done and the time we spent together... A surge of memories raced to my mind.

The time she pulled me close and protected me from the lashing waters at the curb.

The subtle but yet so obvious pick up lines.

The multiple times I cupped her cheek.

The way I traced her skin.

The time when she leaned into my touch.

Everything made sense now...

Her still quietness.

Her flustering moments. And... My not so proud dense ones.

"I… I…"

Words failed me. I didn't know how to properly answer Ruby. I wasn't good with people which meant I had never been in such a situation before. My cheeks flared at her sudden confession… Everything was new territory for me.

"I-I'm going home." It wasn't the proudest thing I had ever said. It was the only thing I could think of and managed out. I didn't know what to do. My mind was thrown into turmoil and I hastily turned my back to Ruby.

"I'll… I'll walk you home." I heard her say.

"N-No it's okay." I never turned to face Ruby as I didn't have the courage. I paced down the sidewalk, but the footsteps echoing behind me told me Ruby was too stubborn to listen. When I walked faster, she did too. When I stopped, did too. "Ruby!" I sharply turned and she flinched.

"Am I annoying you…?" Her shoulders and eyebrows sunk when she said it.

"Yes," I sighed out at first but I immediately took it back when I caught a glimpse of that crushed look on her face. I didn't like that expression. My chest twinged at the discomfort. "No. I meant no Ruby."

"I-I don't want to leave it like this Weiss… I'm afraid that if we leave it like this, you'll try to avoid me in the future." The burning flame of determination had been snuffed out a long time ago, and Ruby darted her eyes to the ground. "You're important to me," she admitted. "I don't want that to happen."

I silently sighed when I continued to watch her sulk.

"What do you want to do then…?"

Ruby finally perked up.

"Can I walk you home?" She asked.

I relented.

"Come on then."

We walked in silence. None of us had spoken a word. I didn't know what to say to her. It was different now that I know she developed some kind of romantic feelings for me. It felt different... I felt different... But I still haven't given her a response to her confession.

A speck of water touched my nose but I brushed it off.

"Is it..." Ruby held up her hand when she something caught her attention. It was a splash of water to the face, and she gave me an alarmed look.

It started to rain...

The weather picked up and the downfall poured faster. Neither of us had an umbrella and it startled us.

"Here!" Ruby took off her jacket and threw it over my head

"No it's fine Ruby!" I tried push it aside but she wouldn't let me.

"Just take it!" She shot back at me. "Your uniform is white. Mine isn't. It's fine. I have spares."

I opened my mouth to protest, but I couldn't because she was right in a way. My uniform was white and everyone knew white did not do too well when it's soaked. I mumbled out a grateful thank you as I used it to shield myself from the rain.

In the end, we did take shelter under a building to wait for the rain to at least die down. When I glanced at the corner of my eyes, Ruby was soaked. She had ripped off the gauze from her cheek as the water wore down the adhesiveness. There were scrapes along her skin but it seemed to me it turned into a soft scabs.

She slicked one side of her hair back when they clung to her face. It didn't look anything abnormal. In fact, the way it strewed suited her.

Water crawled from her temples down to her chin. Her uniform was heavily drenched and it tightly hugged her body. I turned back to the rain and we watched how gravity worked in wonders.

We stood in silence once more and I knew I couldn't delay the inevitable.

"I'm sorry Ruby," I spoke quietly. "I can't return your feelings."

* * *

 **Going to close the poll soon.**


	54. Chapter 54: Ruby

_**Ruby**_

It hit me.

Pretty hard.

I opened my mouth to say something, but I couldn't find my voice. Weiss returned my gaze when she gave me her response, but her eyes soon apologetically fell to the ground.

Neither of us said anything as we both fell silent. I could hear her soft breaths and her feet shift against the floor.

"Do…" I gulped. My nails dug into my skin when I pinched myself. "Do I make you feel uncomfortable?" I couldn't forget what Yang had said to me. I wanted to respect Weiss' answer and I didn't want to push anything onto her. "If I make you uncomfortable, then I can just…" The words died in my throat. It pained me to say it. My chest weighed down heavily but I forced myself anyways. "I can just leave…"

"No…" It was a faint mumble and I barely caught a string of it.

"Weiss, it's okay if you feel creeped out about me…" I pathetically shrugged. I felt weak — as if my strength had been drained away.

"I don't want that!" Her shout caught me by surprise. We finally looked up from the floor and met each other's gaze. I watched how her hands balled into a fist and how her teeth bit her bottom lip momentarily.

"You don't make me feel uncomfortable," Weiss' voice dropped when she sincerely spoke from heart. "You're not disgusting at all. I like you. I always find myself happy to be around with you. But I can only think of you as a friend."

The word 'like' made my heart skip, but the 'friend' that came after that made it sink.

I offered a smile. It was difficult and probably looked unnatural, but it was the best one I could muster right now. I was at least glad that she didn't find me repulsive or anything.

"It's okay. I told you Weiss. I'll be _anything_ you want me to be. If you want to stay as friends, then... I'll be happy to."

Regardless of what happens, I told her I wouldn't be the kind of person who would push her away… Even if my feelings were not returned. I still stand by my decision and plan on sticking by it until Weiss decides otherwise.

"Thank you Ruby…" She gave me a smile. It was weak like mine, but it was still heartfelt.

"Hey look —" I pointed out to the streets, away from the building. "The rain stopped."

Weiss followed my finger and looked out.

"It seems like it has."

"Is it okay if I still walked you home?"

She paused and thought about it. "Perhaps next time Ruby."

"Oh," I hid my disappointment and tried not to deflate. "Okay."

"Thank you." She handed me back my wet jacket.

I just meekly nodded and accepted my drenched clothing. I let it fall to my side as it draped over my hand dripping.

"I'll see you tomorrow then?"

I perked my head. "Yeah." The corner of my lips quirked into a sliver of a smile. It was reassuring to know that this wouldn't make us fall apart.

She turned away and I watched her back grow smaller and smaller until she disappeared into the distance. My shoulders dropped and the feeling in my chest wouldn't leave. I took out my phone and scrolled down my contact list.

 _"Hello?"_

The person on the other line picked up.

"Yang, can I have a hug?"

* * *

 **Polls are closed. I'll be doing option 1!**


	55. Chapter 55: Weiss

_**Weiss**_

I was worried that yesterday would wedge a wall between Ruby and I.

If not, then I was afraid things would be awkward. I thought about inviting Blake so that way it would feel less awkward considering there would be more people around. But I quickly pushed the idea away seeing those two never met before.

School ended faster than I expected and I grew more nervous when I strode to the bus stop. I anticipated Ruby would wait for me. I remembered telling her I would see her the next day. Any plans that deviated away from meant I was intentionally avoiding her, something I didn't want to put across.

As Ruby came up in the clearing like I expect she would, I put on my most natural expression.

"Hello Ruby," I greeted her.

Ruby sharply turned around and grinned widely. "Hey Weiss!"

It was the same lively smile she always had, livelier than yesterday. She was being her usual enthusiastic self again, and the presumed awkwardness was no longer a concern. The scrape on her cheek healed up quickly, but I noticed there were faint scabs.

"Are you… Okay?" Ruby lowered her head in concern.

I raised two brows at her question. "I am. Why?"

"Well…" She examined my face once more. "You look grumpier than normal."

I blanked out at the mere mention but quickly recovered. "Do I...?"

Of course...

I should've known that my natural face would actually come off as an ill-look.

"Hm…" Ruby tucked her chin underneath her thumb as she inspected me further. "Maybe it's a trick of light."

"Doubt it." I mentally frowned.

The bus screeched and sighed when it pulled into a slow stop. I climbed the stairs of it to board.

"Now that I think about it…" I inserted a quarter to pay the fare. "I haven't seen to ride behind Yang on her motorcycle."

"I really haven't," Ruby admitted and paid her own fare as well.

"How come?"

I stopped and scanned around inside the bus.

"Because."

Ruby didn't give any reason at all. She just left it at that with no further explanations.

"Because…?" I trailed off.

"Um…" She mumbled hesitantly. She just weakly shrugged and barely smiled when I glanced back at her. "Want to take a guess?"

I hummed and gave it a quick thought. Yang's motorcycle surely wasn't broken anymore. It's been awhile so I assumed it should be fixed. So that would mean —

Oh.

The humming died in my throat when I figured it out why.

"There's an empty seat over there!" Ruby lit up.

Either my silence flew over her head or she knew I understood and decided not to pursue the conversation. I almost tripped over my own feet when she tugged me to the spot. She pushed me to take the last seat on the bus but deep down I couldn't.

"Ruby, you should take the seat." I proceeded to get up. I couldn't possibly accept it. Ruby was always considerate of me, never of herself.

"No, you should take it," she insisted. She held my shoulders down so I wouldn't stand from the seat.

"Ruby —" I tried to argue back.

Ruby then released my shoulders. "Actually Weiss… Is it okay if you get out of the seat, please?"

I blinked when she easily changed her mind. Sometimes she was quite the stubborn person, but she rarely finishes with _please_ at the end of her sentences. I stood from my spot and stepped off to the side. I waited for Ruby to take the seat, but she didn't. Instead, she stared straight ahead and I heard a faint thumping noise behind me.

There was a tall boy wearing a Signal High uniform while holding a white cane. No one gave up their seats for him except for us. Ruby gently pulled me further to the side so we wouldn't block his way. There were a few thumps with his cane until he finally took our seat.

"That was really sweet of you Ruby," I whispered in sincere.

I have never seen a blind student before.

"Not at all. Um… Thank you," she rubbed the side of her neck bashfully. "Cause you gave up the seat. Not me. I just asked you to."

"Still I wouldn't have noticed before it was too late," I gave her credit. "Do you know him?"

Ruby nodded. "More like acquaintances. That's Fox."

She hesitated when she continued. "He got into a major accident and lost his vision."

"Oh…" My face softened. "I hope he's doing alright now."

"I hope so too…" She said sympathetically.

We held the strap hangers on the bus when it took off. Today was out of the usual. The bus was anything but luxurious. It started to get jammed pack with other students and civilians during the ride that Ruby and I got pushed further back into the bus.

"Sorry," Ruby quickly apologized when she accidentally grabbed over my hand rather than the pole.

"I-It's fine," I made light of it in attempts to disregard it.

Ruby shifted to hold somewhere else. I was more than elbow to elbow with her. We both averted our eyes away and we stared off to some window, anywhere but straight at each other. Even with the air conditioning blasting, there was something strange about the bus.

Was it always this warm?


	56. Chapter 56: Ruby

_**Ruby**_

Sometimes I wonder if transit drivers find little enjoyment in packing their passengers like sardines in a crushed tin box.

By far, today was worse than days that rained.

Weiss was obviously not comfortable. I knew because she was looking around and wincing slightly more than normal. If I could, I would shift to give her more room to breathe, but even I wasn't able to move an inch over.

Every second the bus sped up or pulled into a full stop, the more I felt like I need to do something. I knew she would suffer through the entire ride even if she had to keep fidgeting around with limited space. That was something Weiss would do.

I quickly reached through the crowd of shoulders and pulled the cord to flag the next stop.

"Come on Weiss." I grabbed her wrist when the bus pulled to the curb and opened its back doors.

"Wait Ruby, this isn't our stop."

Weiss didn't do much protest when I tugged her down the steps. The bus sighed and roared its engine behind us when we deboarded, leaving us with only one option.

"It's a nice day for a walk!" I said to her. "Besides, it was super stuffy in there."

"Well… A walk does sound nice," Weiss admitted. I smiled when she appeared more at ease rather than being side by side with a bunch of strangers.

There was a ringing chime off in the distance and I peered over Weiss' shoulders to the building across. Weiss raised an eyebrow when my face lit up, and she turned around to see what I seemed so excited about.

"An arcade?" She deadpanned. "World of Remnant." She read the name of the place.

I knew right off the bat that Weiss was judging how tacky and colorful its appearance was.

"We should take a look! Trust me. It's not like any other arcade places."

Yang and I often came to this arcade when we were kids. Our parents would leave us here to keep us distracted while they took a breather from us for a few hours. Safe to say, they enjoyed the hours of freedom even if it did dent their wallets.

"What happened to being a nice day for a walk?" Weiss looked at me incredulously.

"We are taking a walk," I said with a winning grin. "A walk to the arcade!"

I ran across the street when there were no cars and Weiss, who seemed torn between the choices, finally decided to follow me. I slipped in a few bills to trade in for tokens and gave a hand full to Weiss.

"Game tokens," I explained. If she never had cup noodles, I was certain she never been to an arcade before. "This is how you pay for games."

Weiss turned the token over and hesitantly looked at its intricate design as if it was some kind of foreign currency.

Yup, I was right.

She has never been here before.

"Okay…" Weiss said tentatively. "Then where should we start first?"

"Anywhere!" I stretched out my arms. "There's crane games."

"Don't they rob people from their money?"

I shrugged. "If you know the tricks and stuff, then not really. Oh!" I brightened up when I remembered there was one game that was pretty straight forward. "You might find this one fun."

I took her by the wrist and dragged her across the arcade floor.

"Grimm Hunt," she read the game title.

"In this place, Grimm are considered monsters," I explained. "Soo… Here's how it works. Take your pistol." I pulled the plastic gun from the slot and handed to her. "Insert the required tokens." I pushed in a few coins. "And shoot whatever you see that's ugly."

"Shoot hideous looking creatures," she seemed to get the idea.

"Yep! Get ready Weiss." I took out the gun from my slot and aimed at the screen. "Pull the trigger to shoot. Shoot off screen to reload."

"Okay." Weiss pointed at the screen in the same fashion as I did.

The screen faded to black and a storyline cuts in. It introduced two people who crash landed into an uninhabited island. Their first step was to find a safe place for the time being, but in amidst of their journey, they encountered weird monsters called Grimm.

"What the heck is that?" I watched Weiss' face scrunched in surprise when she asked.

"Shoot it!" I shouted loudly. I pulled the trigger multiple times. It took a whooping 3 bullet to put one measly Grimm down.

"Why am I not killing it?" Weiss panicked. She kept pushing the button, but it did nothing.

"Reload!"

"How do I do that again?"

Another wave of Grimm ran to the front of the screen.

"Shoot off screen. Weiss you're dying and we haven't even passed the first stage!"

"How do you know I'm dying?!"

"You have a health bar on the bottom! Weiss! I don't think I can save you like this!"

"Ruby!" Weiss shrieked when her side fades mostly red and a bolded printed letters appeared asking if she wants to continue or not. It began counting down and I laughed.

"You're terrible at this." I watched my screen fade and a number counted down asking if I wanted to continue. "Want to try a different game?"

"Like what," she huffed.

"Let's do racing."

I showed her to the other side of the arcade. While we made our way across, she looked around and glanced at other people playing different games.

"Why are the machines faxing out little papers?" She tilted her head.

"What?" I asked in confusement. I turned to where she had her eyes on and I tried holding back my laughter when I figured what she was referring to. "Weiss." I felt bad for wanting to laugh because she looked so innocent when she asked. "Those are tickets. You know… Things you trade in for prizes when you attempt or win in a game."

"Oh." Weiss shrunk in embarrassment, her face coloring a bit of red.

Weiss never fails to be cute whenever she blushes.

I smiled and just looked away.

I knew my place.


	57. Chapter 57: Weiss

_**Weiss**_

"Ruby, I am not sitting on that."

"Weiss," she tried to reason with me. "It's cute."

"You call that cute?!" I did not find anything cute about it.

"What's wrong with sitting on Grimm? I mean it's not like the typical racing games with the nice comfy chairs or like those motorcycle ones."

I had no idea what she was talking about, but they sound worlds better than sitting on top of a bear or a boar… Wolf? Or even a bird in this matter.

"It feels… Childish." I glanced at the plastic hideous looking animal that tried to look like some kind of four wheel drive. "I think I might pass on Grimm Racers."

"You're just afraid that you can't drive," she cocked her hips, smirking at me with that confident smile of hers.

Oh.

She's taunting me.

I see her game.

"Driving in real life is completely different than in a video game," I folded my arms. "Besides, I never got my driving license. So technically, I can't drive."

"Minor details! Besides, neither did I. Which means…" She trailed off before hopping into one of those... What's it called? Grimm? "We should practice! Or… We can make a bet," she wiggled her eyebrows.

"A bet?" I repeated pretty flatly.

"Losers do what winner says," she suggested when she couldn't think of anything else.

I lifted my chin. "Very well. I accept your challenge, Rose."

"Oh?" Ruby pointed her nose in the air too. "Bring it on, Schnee."

It was strange when she mentioned my last name. It always came off disgusting when other people said it back when I was at Atlas at the company's gala. But when Ruby said it, it came out nicer… Nothing close to repulsive.

Maybe it was because this was the first she ever said it?

Ruby inserted her token and the stereo screeched out 'Beowolf' as it recognized her vehicle she had chosen. I placed in my token and 'Ursa' registered.

Funny names.

"Get ready to eat my dust Weiss!" Ruby pressed on the gas pedal and revved her engine. It sounded close to an animal growling rather than an actual motor. "You'll be _schneezing_ everywhere when you do!"

Pfft.

That wasn't the first I've heard.

"I'm glad you like red because I'll be squashing you," I taunted back.

"All bark, no bite! You know what's great about being a rose?"

"What?" I dared to ask.

"We _Rose_ above all challenges!"

"Oh?" I revved my engine and carefully watched the traffic signal countdown. I could feel my lips contorting into a grin. "You can keep blooming, but I'll just trim you down."

"You'll be the one withering with your dry humor."

We both slammed our foot into the gas pedal when the light turned green. Our monstrous vehicle roared and ripped through the race track.

"You've been cut!" I exclaimed when my Ursa car swerved in front of her Grimm car.

"And yet I'm still budding to victory!" Ruby shouted. She drifted and pushed my car to the side.

I frowned.

" _Schnee_ you later!" She laughed, her car powering through the second lap while I closely followed behind her.

"I think not." I took a sharp turn and easily cut in front of her.

"Wow Weiss, you're really putting the _petal_ to the metal."

I stifled a laugh at her word play.

"Maybe you should slow down," she teased. "Stop and smell the _roses_."

I could hear Ruby grinning in her sentences. She was just filled with puns today.

Her car scraped into mine as she tried to overtake me. She kept pushing until I was almost off track.

"No thank you," I humphed. "You smell like dirt from your dirty play."

"I just _rose_ to the occasion."

Her car briefly surpassed mine until I finally caught up to her. Every time I took the lead, Ruby would pull ahead. Whenever she overtook me, I would take her by surprise. Our race cars were neck to neck. As the finish line became visible, I stepped into the pedal and shifted gears. Ruby did not delay in doing the same.

Our cars roared down the racetrack and I could feel a sweat crawl down my temples from this silly game.

It was hard to tell who was pulling ahead. The score had been flickering between 1st and 2nd. I bit my bottom lips when the finish line approached incrementally closer. So close that —

"What!" I shrieked when I see a silver 2nd place hanging on the top of my screen. I sharply turned to her screen and I see a big gold 1st on hers.

"Victory!" Ruby screeched happily with her arms pumped in the air.

"How?!" I could not believe it.

"I'm a great driver that's all. Maybe I should do all the driving in the future."

"I beg to differ," I huffed.

I noticed how she stared at me.

"W-What?" I asked.

"Losers do what winner says," Ruby reminded me. She leaned into her steering wheel and gave me one of her famous smiles.

I changed the direction of my eyes before pulling my hair behind my ear.

I had no idea what Ruby had in store for me.

* * *

 **Work has been so exhausting that I can barely put words down. I don't know how you people do it everyday ._. Kudos to you.**


	58. Chapter 58: Ruby

_**Ruby**_

The idea of having Weiss doing whatever I say was exciting. The possibilities was endless. Of course I wasn't going to make her do anything bold that could jeopardize our friendship, but I didn't want to let this go to waste either.

The corner of my mouth kept tugging into a silly smile. Of all the possible things in the world, there was one thing Weiss and I never did.

"I want you to…" I slowly trailed off into a hum to build the suspense. It was working seeing that Weiss seemed slightly nervous. "Take a picture with me."

"You… What?" She asked once more to see if she heard correctly.

"Take a picture," I repeated. I unconsciously traced the steering wheel with a finger. "We never took one with each other if you think about it. So, I want us to take one. Something for us to look back and remember this day."

"A picture…" She parroted.

"I can suggest something else if you're uncomfortable?" I meekly shrugged.

"I don't mind… I'm just not very… Photogenic."

"That's what you're worried about?" I gaped at her in disbelief. "But you always look pretty in everything."

I couldn't catch the words slipping right out of my mouth. I immediately shifted my eyes back to the floor, embarrassed with what I had just said.

"I mean great," I mumbled sheepishly. "We can do something else. You can buy me more ice cream. Or maybe buy me coffee? Maybe you can give me a massage. Ah… That's probably uncomfortable for you. Umm, you can —"

"P-Photo is fine."

I glanced up to see Weiss twirling the ends of her hair and staring directly at the floor.

"I don't mind," she assured me again before weakly shrugging. "Just one photo right?"

"Just one," I nodded. "From a photobooth."

"A photobooth?"

"Yeah there's one at the corner of this arcade. That way we can frame or pin up our picture later on!"

"Why not take it with a cell phone?" Weiss raised an eyebrow when she looked up at me.

"Do you ever look back at the pictures you take on your cell phone? Cause I don't."

"Good point."

I guided her to the photobooth, and lucky for us, there was no one waiting in line. I quickly shooed her inside and closed the curtain behind me once I stepped in with her.

"Okay, there are four shots." I reached into my pocket to pull out a couple of bills.

"Ruby, I can pay half at least." Weiss insisted.

"Nope." I beat her to it and the machine ate my money. It started counting down from the minute mark to give us time. Thankfully. "One normal smiling picture and all funny photos."

"Umm…" Weiss hesitated. "I don't excel at funny pictures."

I watched the timer count down to twenty. As the time continued to tick, I spoke faster. "Whaaat? We can improvise! Okay, smile."

I grinned and she frowned.

"Weiss." I said in between my teeth. "That's not a smile."

She smiled, but it wasn't the smile that I knew of.

"Smile," I said again.

"I am smiling." She hissed through her teeth. Her lips tug wider.

The timer went down to the single digits.

"What did the man say when he walked into a bar," I quickly slurred out in one big jumble mess, but was at least understandable.

"What?" Weiss genuinely asked.

"Ow." I smiled at my answer.

Weiss laughed when it dawned on her and the camera flashed. The machine brought up the picture to the screen, and Weiss looked absolutely fantastic in it.

"Okay next one," I said quickly when a ten second timer came in front of the screen. "Serious face."

"Oh, I'm good at that." Weiss said quite proudly. Her expression immediately flattened and I grinned in amusement. "Ruby, that's not a serious face."

"I'm trying!" I laughed. Really, I was. Weiss' serious face was incredibly impressive.

"If you don't ace the next upcoming test, I won't hang out with you."

" _What_?" My smile fell and the camera flashed.

When the screen pulled up the picture, my face came out as more of a shock rather than the serious expression I had asked for.

"I'm kidding," she laughed.

"Har. Har. Har." I droned flatly. "Okay, next! Do something funny."

"Umm…" Weiss panicked when nothing came to mind. We were running out of time too.

"Choke me." I blurted out in a hurry.

" _Excuse me?"_ Weiss scrunched her brows to what she had just heard.

"Pretend to choke me." I tilted my head to expose more of my neck.

"Oh. Um. Like this...?" She wrapped her hands just like how I instructed.

Right before the camera snapped a shot, I pretended to be dead. With my head flopped to one side and my tongue lamely hanging outside, I made it seemed like Weiss had choked me to death.

"Wow you look absolutely silly," Weiss examined the picture on the screen.

"And you look too confused for it to be an act of murder."

"Oh please," she snorted. "I can be a serial killer if I wanted to."

"If looks can kill, then yeah you can." I automatically purred back without giving a second thought. My face dropped when I realized what I just had done.

I purred.

Something I never do.

Never.

I swallowed hard.

It was difficult to tell who turned to who first. I snapped my head in Weiss' direction, and Weiss had done the same.

"What?"

"What?"

Silence sat in the air for a brief second.

The camera's shuttle clicked and it captured the two of us, both of us staring at each other side by side. The noise going off broke us from our silence and I turned a blind eye to what I had done.

"Okay!" I said hurriedly to change the subject. "Let's see how the pictures turned out!"

I rushed out of the photobooth with a blush.

Argghh.

Stupid. Stupid!

Why do I keep saying these things?

* * *

 **Strangely, these chapters are getting longer and longer.**

 **The only way I'm finding time is to write using my phone before I sleep. And that's only less than half an hour. So if you're waiting for my other stories, it wouldn't be until awhile. I barely have time to crack my laptop open.**


	59. Chapter 59: Weiss

_**Weiss**_

My cheeks flared when Ruby inadvertently complimented me. I pressed the cool side of my hand against my cheeks to extinguish the rushing heat going towards my face, but it wasn't doing any good.

I didn't budge from where I was at.

Not only did I feel like my cheeks were burning, it felt like the burn was surging through my hands as well.

"Weiss?" Ruby called from outside the photo booth. "You okay?"

I snapped from my daze to the voice behind the curtain that separated us, and I slightly stammered in response. "Y-Yes!" My hand quickly retreated away from my cheeks as it found its way to my side again.

"Come here and check out the pictures!"

Ruby beckoned me to move quickly as she grew impatient, but I slowly did at my own pace. When I pushed the small curtain aside, she giddily shoved me a copy of the photo and my eyes immediately went to study the first panel.

"Your smile looks great in this one!" Ruby pointed out to my laugh at the first picture. She kept tapping her nail to the first panel like an antsy grade schooler.

I squinted my eyes when I unnecessarily focused at the picture. The more I drew my attention towards it, the more I realized that I didn't know I could smile like that.

"Does it?" I asked her meekly.

Yet again, my face flushed a little to her flattery. Feeling embarrassed with the overwhelming but unintentional compliments in one day, I turned to the photo again to look at anywhere but Ruby. I couldn't face her properly like I wanted to. Despite how words were simply just words, hers carried more weight to it.

"Yeah!" Ruby nodded frantically with her charming full blow grin.

"Thank you," I said diffidently. "Your serious face looks quite…" My eyes went to the second panel. "Quite… Serious?"

Ruby laughed at my attempted praise. "Mine can't compare to yours. Yours looks awesome!"

"Don't be silly, you look perfectly fine." I huffed. I was proud at myself for successively brushing away another one of her compliments. Ruby kept firing it away without a single stutter. But this one, I mentally shot down.

"Reaally?" Ruby cocked her head down doubtfully as one eyebrow rose up.

"Yes Ruby," I assured her while I rolled my eyes painfully slow. "Honestly. You look great in every panel."

"Oh." She flustered and mumbled sheepishly as well. Her hands found a comfortable place at the back of her neck and she rubbed in embarrassment. "T-Thanks."

I moved on to the next panel and I took in the sight of Ruby looking absolutely absurd. The same picture where her tongue lamely hung out when I playfully attempted to choke her.

"I look like an idiot." I flatout admitted and shook my head. I felt a bit of shame of how silly I look in this.

"Like a dolt?" She giggled.

"No," I humphed. "That's a nickname given and fit for only you."

"I am honored." Ruby gave me a theatrical bow followed by another lighthearted giggle. Her antics had me smiling.

"I wasn't even prepared for it." I placed both my hands on my hips, cocking it with a teaspoon of sass.

"Oh come on, you look great." Ruby easily disregarded. "At least, I look great! Besides, the best picture is when you don't realize it."

Her last sentence had me turning at the picture again for the final panel, the picture that had us barely registering it. My thumb glossed over our mildly shocked faces and our accidental eye lock. I stared intently, wondering what went through both of our minds.️

Mostly Ruby's of course.

Was her mind chaotic like mine as her confession was not too long ago? Was she mentally patting herself on the shoulder? Was she regretting every word? How did she find so much confidence even after I shot her down?

"We should head back." Ruby broke me from my train of questioning thoughts.

"Huh?" I mumbled lamely after I lifted my head.

"It's getting late." She offered me a small smile, but our eyes didn't meet as she looked passed my shoulders to see the outside. "We should probably get going."

I blinked more than twice than I needed to. "Oh. Of course."

We safely stowed away our pictures into our backpacks and left the arcade before the sun set. We walked off into the general direction with hearty conversations — Mostly Ruby rambling while I listened and left a few comments here and there.

But despite how the picture left my hands, it did not leave my mind. There was something I forgot to think about. Something extremely important

Where should I put it?

Was thumbtacking it on the wall the best idea?

It will leave a hole that was certain.

Maybe put a magnet on top and stick it on the fridge?

No. I don't think I want Winter staring at it everyday. That would be embarrassing. Like how I expected her to be, she would probably compliment my smile with flowery comments then insult the next set of panels with playful criticisms.

Ruby abruptly stopped and I finally paused walking after taking a few extra steps ahead of her. I cocked my head to look back and questioned something else.

Why did Ruby stop walking?

"We should probably part ways here," she said to me. It was that smile, the smaller one that was out of the ordinary while we stood at the fork in the road.

I blinked a hundred times of why the sudden change. I thought she liked me. Wouldn't it made more sense for her to —

No.

I shouldn't need to think about it anymore.

"Oh…" I offered her the same exact smile she gave to me. "Okay."

She stared at me and studied my voice. I noticed that Ruby was quite observant, even at the little things. Despite how I tried not to come off disappointed, she caught it regardless. It couldn't get passed her defenses.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Ruby softened her eyes and gave me a promising smile with it. I knew she was never the type to break promises. Even if they were unspoken.

I nodded to her and softly smiled back.

"Okay."


	60. Chapter 60: Ruby

_**Ruby**_

Notes. Check

Homework. Check

Books. Check

Phone. Check

"Okay Yang, I have everything I need." I slung my backpack to one shoulder and scurried out of the classroom. Halfway to the door, I turned around to take one final glance to see if I left anything behind.

Nope.

"I'm leaving now!" My voice boomed across the almost empty classroom.

"You sure you don't want a ride home?" Yang shouted back to me while her hands and eyes rummaged through her black hole of a backpack. I knew whatever she tossed in there would eventually get lost. If not, crumpled and torn apart like the 'dog ate my homework' kind of excuse.

"Yup! Gonna hang out with Weiss!" I yelled back while I made my way out the door.

"Have fun! Don't do stupids things!"

"I won't!"

Striding down the hall, I squeezed through the rush of afterschool traffic and hurried to the entrance gates. With a big smile on my face, I watched Beacon High students blend in with a crowd of Signal High. Together, they swamped the sidewalks while they filled the air with noisy chatters.

I made my way to the bus stop where Weiss and I would always meet up, and waited for Weiss to arrive. Without conscious thought, I took out my phone and scrolled through my screen to make myself look preoccupied. Others had done the same as they waited for the bus to come.

"Ruby." Someone called out to me when I was a few minutes engrossed with my phone.

I pocketed it away and looked up to the warm voice that I knew too well.

"Hey Weiss," I greeted her with the same smile back.

"Shall we get going?" She turned her back from the bus and took a couple steps ahead, but glanced over her shoulders when I wasn't following her.

"We're not taking the bus?" I took a giant leap forward to be next to her.

"No," Weiss shook her head. She turned ahead and begun to walk. "It's a nice change of scenery don't you think?"

I tilted my head to the sky and glanced at how bright blue it was — the same shaded blue of almost everyone's favorite color back in primary school.

"Yeah, it's really nice outside." I nodded, enjoying the nice moment. The clouds barely obscured the sun and the temperature was perfect as it is.

"So how was your day at school?" Weiss asked me while we walked together side by side.

I hummed and gave it a thought.

"Ehh." In the end, I shrugged indifferently. "Nothing really exciting. Classwork. Lecture. Friends. Same as usual."

"No flying objects smashing through the window and wrecking havoc?" Weiss stifled a laugh and wryly grinned at me.

"Psh." I rolled my eyes at her humor. "My face does not attract flying objects."

I frowned when the words had just left my mouth. Immediately, I halted into a stop and swept the area just in case. The last thing I want is something nailing me on the head out of coincidence.

"Convincing," Weiss watched me double check my surroundings out of paranoia.

"You can never be too cautious," I faced away from her and made a huffy sound. Right when I turned away, a colorful flyer taped against a glass window caught my attention.

"What are you looking at?" Weiss asked when I stared off into the distance longer than I normally do.

"Hey look at this." The piece of paper drew me closer, and Weiss followed right behind me.

"Spicy noodle challenge…" Weiss read the big bolder letters at the top of the flyer. "Perversely spicy. Finish the bowl and win a giant stuffed animal."

"Let's do it."

"Ruby, no." Weiss became the voice of reason.

She was like that angel conscience that sat on my shoulder. The one that tells me what's morally right and corrects what's considered wrong. The one that argued with the devil on the other shoulder. The one that I don't always listen to because the other choices were more fun.

"But Weeeiss," I drawled childishly and pointed to the cartoon drawing at the corner of the flyer. "We can win a prize! It's a giant stuffed dog animal!"

"No," she continued to stand by her answer.

I caught her subtly taking a glimpse of the picture of the prize. Well… it wasn't exactly subtle to me.

"I know you want to," I turned the table on her and became her voice of reason — that devil on the shoulder. "It's an adorable, giant, huggable doggy!"

Weiss folded her arms and deadpanned at me.

"I know you want one." I did not falter and continued to grin, hoping she would say yes to me.

The expression on Weiss' face didn't seemed to budge and I took a different approach to coerce her into doing it.

"Unless you don't want to…" I wistfully sighed in the most dramatic way and kicked a small pebble with my toe. I knew how to push Weiss' buttons. "I heard Atlesians can't handle spice…" I batted my eye to her. "Like black pepper."

"And where did you even hear that from?" Weiss scrunched her face, mildly shocked with what she just heard. She took the bait, and I smiled to myself.

"Oh I heard from somewhere…" I half shrugged nonchalantly

"Ridiculous rumors," Weiss clicked her tongue in disapproval.

"I don't know Weiss," I responded back, pretending to be very unconvinced.

"Don't tell me you believe it."

"I kind of do."

Weiss narrowed her eyes at me and attempted to read through my expression. Enough to say, I did a pretty good job in making a blank face.

"Fine. We're doing this challenge."

Hook, line, and sinker.

"I'll show you can handle chili," Weiss continued to mutter underneath her breath.

She strode in with head confidently high while I trailed right behind her grinning like a fool. The waiter showed us to our seats and took our orders immediately since we knew what we wanted.

Elbows right on top of the table, I folded my hands and rested my chin on top. "Okay Weiss, don't regret this," I said with a slight giggle behind it.

"I feel like I'm making the biggest mistake of life," she grumbled to me. She let out a sigh and faced somewhere else. "Oh look at that."

Weiss perked up and I followed where her finger had pointed to. Right on one of the shelves sat a sample of the winning prize — the award to those who conquered the challenge.

"It's cute," Weiss' face softened at the giant plush animal in the most endearing way.

And just like that, I wanted to win it for her. If she can make a face like that, imagine how happy she would be if she got the prize. I felt a bolstering energy pumping through me, giving me enough to prepare for —

"Two spicy noodle challenge!" The waiter announced our order.

The bowls clacked onto the table when he placed down our food. Weiss and I looked down at our respective bowls before glancing back at each other.

Oh dear Lord.


	61. Chapter 61: Weiss

_**Weiss**_

"That's a lot of chili…" I picked up a spoonful of chili floating on top of the broth. It was like picking up nature's debris from a swimming pool — a swimming pool that screamed out bloody murder.

Ruby watched me lean forward to take a whiff. Right when the steam touched my nose, I instinctively started coughing. My nose crinkled sourly and I tried to clear my throat.

"Wow," I coughed once more when it still lingered around. The spice stung my nostrils and I could feel my face redden from the chili scent.

"You know… We don't need to do this…" Ruby laughed nervously. She was stabbing the pile of noodles with her chopstick checking to see if the monstrosity would come to life.

"No," I shook my head. A part of me still wanted to prove to her that despite where I was born, I can handle spice. Even if it does burn my brain cells. "Since we're here already, we might as well go for it."

"Are you sure…?" Ruby timidly twirled her noodles around.

"Weren't you the one who wanted to do this in the first place?" I started to scold her. "Don't tell me that you're backing out now."

"Well… I mean I do," she muttered hesitantly. "I'm just worried about you."

"Atlesians aren't exactly sensitive to spicy food," I reminded her again. "Even if it does look like a pit of boiling, cancerous lava, I've had my fair share."

Being the braver of the two, I lifted up the noodles perfectly with my chopsticks and guided them into my mouth.

"I don't think boiling lava is the correct description for this…" Ruby studied it critically.

I ignored the scent of this disastrous inferno, and through my peripheral vision, I watched Ruby think really hard to find a more appropriate comparison.

She then snapped her fingers loudly when it finally occured to her. "It looks like Satan peed inside!"

I choked instinctively upon the crude words coming out of her mouth. The spice entered the wrong airway and I spat the noodles right back inside the bowl in such an undignified manner.

Father would've killed me if I ever done this in one of our gala.

"Oh god." I coughed repetitively to get out whatever was searing at my throat.

My chopsticks clattered against the table when my hand went to cover my mouth. I tried coughing everything out, but the heat just increased further. My eyes watered as it felt like the devil had raged war inside my mouth. No, I wouldn't call it a war. I would call it a fiesta. He was having a party, celebrating that I was experiencing such a pain that would melt my taste buds off forever.

"Sorry Weiss!" Ruby begun to panic. Arguably, it was her fault. She quickly waved down a waiter when I responded back with coughing fits. "Can we get a glass of milk for my friend?"

"That would cause her to forfeit the challenge," the waiter answered apologetically. "I can give you a glass of water though. Is that okay?"

And have the fire spread even further? I think not.

"Milk." I curtly demanded.

The waiter quickly went to retrieve a glass of milk from the kitchen and passed it along to me. I instantly guzzled down the entire glass to finally free myself from the eternal suffering. When I finally made a miraculous recovery, I darted my eyes at Ruby.

"I am never doing this again."

With my hands, I wiped the remaining evidence from my mouth even if it did looked improper. I couldn't care any less. My saliva was all over the place — all over the table and my face. It was embarrassing enough that I did it in public, especially in front of Ruby.

"Was it that bad?" Ruby chuckled nervously.

"The chili going straight to my lungs?" I blotted my face with a clean napkin then dabbed the corner of my eyes to wipe those rogue tears. "Yes. The noodles itself? Not particularly. I just couldn't swallow when you made such a crude comparison."

"Sorry," she smiled apologetically to me. "Didn't mean to make you spit your food out. I should be lucky that I wasn't in the splash —"

"Not a single word any further," I silenced her.

Ruby zipped her mouth and returned back to her bowl. With the expression she had on, it looked as if she was contemplating her life choices.

I nudged my head to give her a little push. "Go on." My eyes flicked between her and her bowl of noodles. Her taste buds never gotten the chance to frolic in the burning meadow of eternal pain like I have.

"Hey Weiss?" Ruby spoke up while she twirled her noodles like spaghetti.

I folded my hands and patiently watched her. "Yes?"

Eat the noodles.

Eat. It.

"How bad do you want that stuff animal?"

I frowned at her unusual question and stopped the silly chant going through my head. "Not entirely bad. It's something I can live without. I'm just slightly disappointed that I never got the prize."

I glimpsed down at my hand and twiddled my thumb together.

"I never had a stuff animal before," I admitted sheepishly.

"Really...?" Ruby seemed to doubt me.

The idea of a little girl never receiving any stuff animal for her entire life sound ridiculous. Yes, I was born in a rich family. But stuff animals and toys were considered childish. Father always thought of them as just sewn fabric overstuffed with cotton. Meanwhile, toys were labeled as plastic choke hazards.

They weren't really appreciated at home.

"Yes, really." I shrugged like it wasn't an issue. Then I jumped back to why we were here in the first place. "If you can't stomach it, there's no use of being here. We can head home."

I proceeded to get up from my chair, but Ruby quickly stopped me.

"Wait!" Ruby then paused hesitantly. "Give me a moment."

I blinked and quietly sat back down in my seat. My jaw hinged together while my mind tried to figure out what Ruby was planning to do.

Is she really going to…?

Ruby took a deep breath.

She closed her eyes, probably saying a silent prayer to herself. I heard a soft whimper peeping out from her lips before she opened her eyes to face the challenge.

In a couple of minutes, I watched Ruby drained down every content of the bowl.

Ignoring the tremendous amount of sweat, pouring tears, and disgusting mucus running down her nose, I watched her chow down every bit of noodle and guzzled down every drop of soup.

By far, this was the grossest I have ever seen her. But yet, I was truly amazed when she finished.

* * *

 **Hurray for random updates.**

 **New year's resolution: type more than 1k words every month. Maybe this will make some progression for my fanfic stories.**


	62. Chapter 62: Ruby

_**Ruby**_

When Yang told me not to do anything stupid, this was one of the stupidest thing I ever done. I knew because my stomach wouldn't stop _serenading_ to me. It kept making wretched gurgling noises, telling me how much it despised me.

My skin didn't appreciate me either. It was not prepared for the stream of salt raining down from my eyes. My mouth felt like it had been sentenced to condemnation. It was like someone shoved a lit up torch down my throat with hot coals lined on top of my tongue.

Was it worth it?

Heck yeah it was.

Would I do it again?

Heck no.

"Here Weiss." I pushed the stuff animal into her arms. The aftermath of the challenge made me feel like I was a fire breathing dragon with probably damaged internal organs. "Treasure this forever."

"R-Ruby…" Weiss stuttered in shock. She tightened her arms and hugged the prize that I had won for her. "I-I don't know what to say…" She lowered her chin and buried half of her face into the stuff animal. Her eyes meekly flitted up and the corners crinkled from her smile. "Thank you."

I tenderly smiled back while ignoring the thing furiously beating in my chest and bubbling from her smile.

It was definitely worth it.

"What are you going to name it?" I asked her.

"A name?" Weiss returned the question.

"Yeah!" My heart stopped soaring when my stomach replaced its swelling happiness with agony. The gurgling noise came back... Twice as loud. "You need to give it a name."

"A name…" She hummed for a second. She held up the prize in the air and studied the stuff animal for a long time. "I want to call it…" She gave it another thought before she finalized her answer, and a small smile formed when she came to a conclusion. "Ein…" She said softly.

"Ein…?" I didn't know what it meant. Atlesian language?

She gave a nod. "And then Zwei if I ever — "

My stomach rumbled and made a really weird high pitched noise.

"Um…" Weiss scrunched her brows and drew attention where the source came from. "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah!" I laughed nervously and self consciously held my stomach. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You did consume an exceedingly large amount of spicy food… Do you feel alright after eating so much?"

I gave her thumbs up and just smiled reassuringly. "Yeah! I'm totally fine!"

My stomach made another intricate sound that I didn't know it had the talent for. I was starting to feel embarrassed when it had the audacity to serenade to Weiss as well.

"Sounds like your stomach is crying for help," she scowled at me. She shifted Ein to her side, right underneath her arm.

"Nope," I denied quickly. "You're just hearing things now."

My stomach bleated, and I mentally facepalmed.

"Uhh huh…" Weiss cocked hips and studied me again.

"Totally hearing things," I muttered less confidently.

This time my stomach decided to go opera and started orchestrating a new sound that could potentially shatter glass.

"Let's get you home," she rolled her eyes and smiled latently. She didn't pursue it any further, and we continued to head into the direction of home.

Thankfully, my bowels went for a quieter musical note during our walk. The last thing I wanted was Weiss hearing a one song band playing straight from my bowels. However, it was painfully difficult to pay attention to the conversation when my mind was center around the pain.

I was clutching my stomach, hoping it'll do some good. But it couldn't appease the pain harbering inside.

Right when I parted ways with Weiss, I immediately dashed home. I weaved in between people, trying to hold back the catastrophe ready to be unleashed. I knew from just this feeling, it was going to be horrible.

By the time I got home, I started jingling my keys to unlock my door. My first priority was the bathroom — the safe haven and the cure to purge my problems away. But right before I jammed my keys inside, I immediately noticed my door had been unlocked.

I had _never_ left home without locking my door.

Alarmed, my defensive instincts immediately kicked in.

Yang had taught me a few defensive moves in case of an emergency. They weren't super advance, but I had a few offensive moves somewhere up in my sleeves. They were enough to pin someone down despite my small stature.

I bit down my lips and turned the door knob cautiously and quietly. I peered through the cracks of the opening door in search for any intruders lounging around my home.

I tightened my grip around my phone and shut the door behind me quietly. But it wasn't quiet enough when I heard it softly click.

To the sound of the door, a head popped out from the kitchen's entrance.

"Hi honey!"

I stood at the door with my jaw wide open.

"Mom?!"


	63. Chapter 63: Weiss

_**Weiss**_

"Winter, I'm home!"

My voice echoed within the walls when I closed the door gently behind me. I tugged my shoe with my other foot and pushed them to the side near the front door.

When I didnt hear a single peep of her voice, I scrunched my brows.

Was Winter not home?

I fidgeted uncomfortably and shifted Ein to my other arm.

The only noise that came back to me was the soft thumps underneath my feet when I walked further inside. I gently set Ein on the sofa and left a mental reminder for myself to take him back to my room.

That way he doesnt get crushed beneath guest's bottoms or mangled to death by curious hands.

Once the stuff animal has been set down, I made my way to the kitchen to grab something hydrating.

The spicy chili still tingled in my mouth and left a bit of discomfort. But certainly, this could not compare with what Ruby had to go through after she willfully devoured the entire thing.

I smiled at the thought when I recall hearing unwelcomed constipation from her. It was as loud as a church's choir. With how much it was trying to announce its presence, it was endearing to see Ruby attempt to hide it.

As I approached closer to the fridge, my smile split and came down when I noticed a yellow post it tagged on the outside. Despite how messy but still yet legibly written the scribbles were, I could tell it was from Winter.

That was her hand writing when she has little time to spare.

I reached out, plucked it from the fridge, and examined it closely.

 _Sorry Weiss, I won't be home for a few days. I rushed out because of a business trip that I recieved last minute of. Typical. If you need anything, give me a call. Be safe._

At the bottom, _Love, Winter_ was signed.

Of course.

No wonder.

I heavily sighed at the note and crumbled it into a small little ball, and tossed it into a nearby trash can. The ball flew and missed the trash bin in its entirety.

Rolling my eyes, I clicked my tongue and reluctantly retrieved the makeshift paper ball from the floor.

This happened from time to time — Winter leaving with barely any notice. Sure it was empty staying here all alone. But I grew accustomed to it. Even then, I wished she shot me a text message or something. That was a thing nowadays. That's what phones were used for.

Grumbling, I finally tossed the scrap ball to where it belonged and continued my mission — scouring the fridge for something that would castaway the demon possessing my mouth. As I contemplated between my options, I forgoed the drinks.

Ice cream was obviously better.

Just as it was the solution to my problem, it was soothing to my heart and stomach. Content with my decision, I shut the fridge with a carton of ice cream in tow and proceeded to tear the lid off.

I hummed a small little tune.

Winter wouldn't know.

She's not here, so I'm going to eat straight from the carton.

Just as I reached into a nearby drawer for a spoon, I froze. The fine hair behind my nape sharply stood and I felt fear quickly crawling up my spine.

Something was here.

The color drained from my face and my saliva thickened in my throat when I swallowed.

At the corner of my eyes, a black shadow moved in the kitchen.


	64. Chapter 64: Ruby

_**Ruby**_

"Mom, I didn't know you were coming home!" I immediately glomped her with a big hug. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted to surprise you!" She exclaimed, barely managing out her sentence after I squeezed out whatever breaths she had left. She hardly had enough space to breathe and clearly not enough room to reciprocate the hug. Her arms were taped against her waist as they were tied down from my vicious hug. "Honey, as much as I miss you dearly, I can't move." She tried to waddle but failed to do so under my solid embrace.

"Honey." My mom said again when I refused to listen. She tried to peel me away but I glued onto her tightly. "Honey…"

As much as I wanted this moment to last, I suddenly realized something.

I had forgotten why I came home in the first place.

"Mom."

I jerked myself away and my eyes flung wider than normal. Slowly, I blinked once and looked at her dead in the eye before I made my dramatic announcement.

"I need to poop."

"Eew!" My mom laughed and finally broke free from my grip. "Go," she shooed me away. She retreated back into the kitchen while I made a mad dash to the bathroom.

And by the heavens, I finally nuked that toilet right when the exhaust ventilation flipped on and when my garments fell down. I did not leave until I purged my entire stomach of its contents, and I sat long enough to the point where I felt pins and needles all over my legs.

When I came out of the bathroom feeling fresh and new, I skipped into the kitchen and spotted my mom passing judgment on every item in the fridge and the cabinet shelves to see if they were expired.

"When was the last time you used these?" She examined a bottle of ketchup in her hands and scowled. She flipped it at every angle to find that small, black print. "The expiration date is rubbed off."

I leaned against the wall of the kitchen and watched her trash the item. It was always the first thing Mom does — searching for what expired and identifying what was this moldy object.

I rarely cooked since Uncle Tai usually made me dinner.

"Oh this soy sauce is expired too," she clicked her tongue and tossed it.

"Hey, mom." I heard a large thump when the soy sauce landed into the trash can.

"Yes, Ruby?"

"How long are you staying here for?"

It was always the first question I brought up. Mom was never here for too long. Her staying for a lifetime would be never unless she found a new job or retired. Staying for a year would be winning a lottery ticket. A month was once in a blue moon. A couple of weeks was often in the right ballpark.

"Is this mayonnaise still good?" She popped open the lid and shrieked. "Why is it green?!" In absolute disgust, she immediately capped it shut and banished it straight into the trash.

"Mom," I said in a more of a serious tone. She was dodging the question.

Typical.

The bottom of a glass clacked onto the counter when Mom placed it down from her hands.

"Two weeks and a half." Her answer was followed by a heavy sigh, and she picked up the condiment again. She scanned it, but even then, I knew she was only pretending. I knew she was lost in her own thoughts; her expression easily gave it away. She was disappointed — disappointed with the given allotted time.

"Okay." I just shrugged.

I was old enough to understand why. I wasn't a child anymore. I didn't need to throw a tantrum. That was one thing my mom needed less.

She snapped from her thoughts and continued to pass judgment. The verdict: it was immediately sentenced into the trash.

"Would like to do something? Maybe a movie? Or perhaps grab a snack or something?" She suggested, unsure with what I preferred.

"A snack and maybe catch up?" I meekly prompted with a small smile.

Knowingly, Mom softly smiled back. "Ice cream, chips, popcorn… Or?"

"Cookies?" I sheepishly proposed.

She hummed. "Just as I thought."

Mom jumped to it as she started scouring through the cabinets in search of the right ingredients. She always baked the best cookies. It was a secret recipe passed down by her mother. Even if Aunt Raven begged — and mind you she never begs — she would never give it away. That's how secretive it was.

"Do we even have enough ingredients?" Mom mumbled to herself. "I hope it's not expired."

I watched my mom drag a chair away from the dining table and used it as a step ladder to get into the cabinet. It made me wonder if I grew up short because of her.

My phone suddenly rang and I picked it up without checking the caller ID.

"Hello?" I chimed. I stared at my mom's back as she reached to bring things down from the highest shelf.

" _Ruby!"_

I winced and pulled my ear away from my phone when the person screamed my name.

"Weiss?"

 _"Help me!"_

I heard a crackling sound of some sort. A broomstick? Whatever it was, there was a swat here and a swat there, not to mention a very annoyed Weiss on the other line.

 _"Get back here!"_

"Weiss…?" I asked hesitantly. "Are you okay?"

My mom sent a worried glance over her shoulders when she overheard. I shrugged as I had no clue what was going on, and she went back to doing her business.

 _"No no no! Don't you DARE crawl over there you nasty little — !"_

Weiss fumed on the other side.

"Hey, Weiss?" I tried to get her attention.

 _"My ice cream!"_

She shrieked.

"Hey Weeeiss," I sang out.

I got a hold of her.

 _"I'm so sorry Ruby. Would it be too much to ask you to come over? I'm in dire need of help."_

"Um…" I hesitated again. Deep down, I knew I wanted to spend more time with my mom. But seeing how distressed Weiss was through the phone had me worried. I juggled between the choices, my heart torn between the two. I didn't know what I wanted more, but in the end, I had to choose. "I can come over."

My mom cautiously hopped down from the chair and pushed it where it belonged originally. We exchanged a glance with each other, and my mom understandingly nodded.

"I'll drop you off," she whispered.

Smiling, I mouthed a thank back.

 _"Oh thank you, Ruby."_ Weiss let out a relieved sigh. _"I'll see you soo — Come back here!"_

The line ended as Weiss hung up.

"I'm sorry Mom." I put away my phone in my back pocket. "My friend… She's… Um, I need to help her with something."

"Don't worry honey," she rested her hand on top of my shoulder. "We can postpone it to later. We still have time. Besides, I have to get some groceries anyways." She then pulled one of the drawers and took out her car keys. "Let's head out. We don't want to keep your friend waiting do we?"


	65. Chapter 65: Weiss

_**Weiss**_

"Come here you little stinkin' vermin," I muttered underneath my breath.

With my mighty broomstick raised, I swatted my trash can and knocked it down. Paper balls, plastic wrappers, and other contents spilled out but there was no sign of my target.

I clicked my tongue.

Of course it wasn't behind it. It would be too simple.

Moving onto the other half of the kitchen, I slowly dragged the butt end of my broomstick against the cabinets. It banged against the wood like how prisoners would rattle their cups against bar cells.

"Come out wherever you are," I taunted.

I knew it couldn't comprehend my language, but I had to express my dominance. I wasn't going to let it roam around freely. It _needed_ to fear me.

If it thinks it could step into my house and freeload off of my food, then it got another thing coming. I will be its living nightmare. I will send it straight to eternal damnation.

It will learn that a Schnee _cannot_ be messed with.

I circled around the counter and slapped random objects, hoping to frighten it out of its hiding spot. But so far, I had no luck. It scampered off somewhere. Who knows where it ran off to. Whether it be crevices, small cracks, underneath kitchen furnitures… I surely didn't know.

There was only crushing silence at this point. There was no dark blob sprinting across the kitchen floor. There was no scuttling noise. There was nothing.

I sighed and lowered my broomstick.

Winter really has bad timing… Leaving me in a middle of a crisis. Out of all the days she had to leave, why does it have to be today? She could have lended me a hand. But no. I'm here all alone trying to save our kitchen from infestations.

After complaining to myself, I took a final glance around. What was once an immaculate kitchen turned into a kitchen nightmare. Furnitures were thrown out of place. Items over the countertops were tipped over and left behind a mess. My ice cream that I intended to eat already melted into a giant gloop of sin.

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I squeezed my eyes shut and sharply inhaled. My temples throbbed, and I felt a pain coming and going at the side of my head. The whole kitchen was a disaster.

The worst of it… I was responsible for cleaning.

The doorbell rang and I jolted. The headache lifted momentarily, but I felt some parts of it lingering. I set my trusty weapon against the wall and hurried to answer the door.

When I unlatched the lock and opened the door, I was immediately greeted with a warm smile from Ruby.

"Hey Weiss," she said coolly. She had already changed out of her school uniform in favor of casual wear — jean shorts and a black hoodie. Meanwhile, I'm still dressed in my same old uniform. Her hands were buried in her front pockets but her thumbs hung over the edge of it. "You said that you need help?"

"Kind of…" I answered with barely any confidence. At this point, I'm not sure if Ruby could help me at all. But regardless, she came all the way here. I might as well welcome her. "Come on in."

I held the door for her and she sauntered inside. She took off her shoes and searched around for something out of the ordinary.

"Sooo…" Ruby sucked in a deep breath. "What is this 'dire help' that you're in need of?"

I quietly sighed and pointed to the only room full of problems.

Ruby silently followed where my finger pointed to, and it led her to the kitchen. As soon as she came through the entrance, she sharply swung around and gave me the most puzzling look I had ever seen.

"You want me to help clean your kitchen?" She asked incredulously.

I facepalmed, but eventually dragged my hand away from my face.

"I know it's... Disorganized," I reluctantly admitted. "But no. That is not why I called you here for. I called you here because —"

I abruptly stopped in the middle of my sentence, my lips pursed slightly open. I wet my parted lips with my tongue, glossing over them gently.

My ears picked up an unusual sound.

"Weiss…?" Ruby waved her hand in front of my face. "Is there —"

I shoved my hand over her mouth to hush her.

"Do you hear that?" I hissed through my teeth.

The nerve of this pest returning! It dared to step back into my humble home again?!

"Hear… What?" Through the mumbled and jumbled mess, I could still make out the hesitating words coming out of Ruby's mouth and through my palm.

Ruby pried herself away from my suffocating hand and wrinkled her nose. Nose still scrunched, she paused and perked up when she finally understood what noise I was referring to. There was this soft nibbling pattern — a faint crunching sound of some sort. It was so quiet that it could be easily missed if one wasn't attentive enough.

"What the heck is that?" Ruby asked sternly. Her face dropped.

"A mouse," I deadpanned.

"Seriously?" Arms crossed against her chest, her lips curled up in amusement. She then extended her elbows and gestured around us. "This mouse did this to your kitchen?"

"No," I rolled my eyes. "Technically, I did. But the mouse gave me a reason to turn this place inside out."

"So you incurred your wrath by using a broomstick…?" Ruby pointed at the weapon leaning against the wall, and I quietly nodded as she made an accurate deduction. She burst out into laughter while I stood unamused.

"Some help you are," I grumbled, my lips forming a pout.

"I'm sorry," she tried to stifle the remains of her laughter. "I shouldn't be laughing at your predicament." She then cleared her throat and sobered up. "How can I help?"

"Catch it," I succintly replied.

Ruby furrowed her brows at my simple but yet very complicated request. "With my bare hands…?"

I shrugged. "You're welcome to use a cup, a bowl, a basket, or something."

Ruby chuckled nervously when I supplied her the 'necessary' tool to catch a mouse. A plastic bowl. It was the best unshatterable 'net' I had in the house. Ruby blankly stared at it for awhile before her eyes gazed back up to mine.

"Seriously…?" Her shoulders rounded forward and she gave me a pitiful look.

"Yep," I enunciated firmly, my face as serious as ever.

"Do I have to?" Ruby whimpered, the courage beginning to drain from her face.

"Don't tell me you're scared of a little mouse?" I teased her.

She puffed her chest and her weak expression turned over a new leaf. "I'm not afraid." Though, her voice betrayed her when it slightly cracked.

"Good."

Not entirely convinced, I still gave her a little push anyways. Ruby fumbled forward, her feet tripping the slightest but she caught herself. She looked backwards warily, but I gestured her to keep moving forward. She sighed and reluctantly drew closer to where we last heard the disturbance — the snack cabinet.

With one hand holding onto the bowl, Ruby reached out to the handle with the other and grasped onto it. She took a deep breath and slowly opened it.

Lo and behold, Ruby met the infamous dull, brown critter. It was a size of a palm, perhaps maybe a tidbit smaller. Between its tiny paws was a broken piece of chip. The mouse raised its pink ears and its whiskers twitched. Alert and cautious, it froze in place.

Without a second thought, Ruby slammed her eyes shut and slapped the bowl onto it. Kudos to her for finding a semblance of bravery. But she missed. Completely.

The mouse dashed over the ledge of the cabinets and ran rampantly on the tiled floor. Ruby shrieked at the sight and recoiled backwards. She scrambled towards my side, retreating far away from our target — the opposite direction of where I wanted her to be.

"Ruby!" I hissed at her for backing out so quickly. "You're supposed to go after it!"

"I-I'm throwing the white flag!" Ruby cowered behind me. With her hands on my shoulder blades, I stumbled on my feet when Ruby shifted me over to use me as some kind of human meat shield.

I watched the mouse escape before my eyes and I pinched the bridge of my nose.

Ruby is useless


	66. Chapter 66: Ruby

_**Ruby**_

I sat backwards on a chair and watched Weiss tidy up her kitchen. From tipped over kitchen wares to scattered bottles of spices on the countertop, Weiss was bringing down the hammer of order into her kitchen.

The longer my eyes laid on her, the more I thought Weiss would make a great wife. Her future spouse will be so lucky.

"Sooo…" I said while tapping against the head of the chair I was sitting on. "Are you planning to get a mouse trap?"

"It'll be much more useful than someone over here," Weiss commented frankly, her mind still concentrated on the task of cleaning. "To answer your question, yes I will."

"Awww Weiss!" I drawled apologetically, rocking the chair like a kid throwing a tantrum. "I'm sorry that I was so useless."

"It's not your fault," she said while picking up a crumpled paper ball that had rolled out of the trash. "You're not a pest extraordinaire."

"I'm extraordinarily great at pestering you!"

She snorted, and I could tell she held back a smile. "You're not wrong…"

"Hey!" I lamely protested despite how I basically dug myself into that one. "You were supposed to say ' _Oh Ruby, you don't pester me at all'_."

I did my best impression of what I imagined an excessively sweet Weiss would be.

"Gross," Weiss made a disgusted face. Turned out my unrealistic imagination made her a bit out of character. "I absolutely _do not_ sound like that."

"Technically, you can." I pointed a finger, a slanted smile coming to light. "Try saying it."

"No way," she refused.

"You can start with ' _Hey Ruby~'_."

She threw the crumpled ball and it thumped me on my head before I could say any more.

"Ow! Okay, okay." I rubbed my forehead, whimpering, because a very sharp edge of the ball managed to find an accessible patch of skin. "I deserved that."

Making myself more useful, I got off the chair to go retrieve what had assaulted me just now. Swiping the paper ball from the floor, I spun around and squared up to the trash can across the kitchen.

I flicked my wrist and followed through my shot. The crumpled ball sunk into the trash can, making that beautiful, plastic swish noise.

Nailed it.

"Lucky shot." Regardless of her commentary, Weiss still applauded.

"You mean mad skills." I stuck my tongue out at her. She settled a hand on her hips and quirked an eyebrow before letting out a humph and retreating into the living room. Not wanting to get left behind, I followed her. "Where's your sister?"

I saw Ein sitting by his lonesome self on the couch so I picked him up. I started flapping the stuff animal to make it bobble just for no good reason.

"She's out for a few days."

"Oh." No wonder it was so quiet in here. "So is it just you here?"

Weiss tried to snatch Ein considering his neck was right in between my hands. I pulled him out of her reach before she could take him away from me. Seeing how I wasn't planning to release him anytime soon, Weiss scowled and decided to let it be. She sat down on the couch, and I sat down next to her.

"It's just me here," she answered, sounding particularly distant in the conversation.

Like a ventriloquist, I held Ein up to her face and made him dance like a puppet with strings.

"Parents still not home?" I pretended to let Ein do all the talking.

He eventually went slack in my hands when Weiss reached over to lower him back down to the couch. It got a smile out of her, but only for a split second. Her curled lips returned to her typical stoic expression, and she leaned her arm into the elbow of the couch.

"I don't live with my parents," she said quietly, her eyes purposely straying away from me. "It's just me and Winter."

"Oh." I squeezed Ein a fraction tighter when I recalled a certain feeling that I hated. The feeling of being alone. "I'm sorry to hear that."

She shook her head. "It was by choice. I resented my father and my mother is no longer in the picture anymore."

There was an uncomfortable knot in my stomach.

Resented was a strong word.

It was my first time hearing Weiss share something about her family that wasn't her older sister. I had no idea it was complicated.

"I'm sorry to hear that," I said again when I couldn't think of anything more comforting to say. "It gets lonely here doesn't it?"

"I guess." Weiss barely shrugged.

The expression she carried on… It was like she didn't care about it anymore. Like, as if she was used to being alone. But, I wondered if she was really alright with it.

"It sucks," I sympathized with her. Even I have a hard time being numbed to it. "I know how that feels."

"Do you?" Weiss finally glanced my way, not sure whether I actually do understand her or not. From stretching to squishing Ein's cotton filled cheeks, she watched me distract myself with the stuff animal.

I nodded. "I don't really live with anyone at home."

"Oh." Her voice dropped below a whisper. "I'm sorry to hear that."

I aimlessly fiddled with Ein's stubby arms while staring at him vacantly. For the first time to someone other than Yang, I spoke about my inner thoughts.

"I get along perfectly with my mom, but she's always overseas for work. Usually it's just me at home because she doesn't really get time off to come back and visit."

"Your father?"

"Not in the picture," I answered apathetically. "He passed away."

A few snippets of my memories flashed to mind. Most of them was my mom telling stories of the great Qrow Branwen. Of who he was and the heartwarming things he had done for her.

"I-I'm sorry for your loss..." Weiss fumbled on her words when she expressed her condolences.

"I never knew him," I said it way more nonchalantly than she expected. "He died before I was born. While him and my mom were dating, a drunk driver hit him and killed him instantly. A couple of weeks after his death, my mom found out that she was pregnant with me."

Despite how his death may not have a direct impact on me, deep down I wished I had gotten the chance to meet my own dad.

I wondered how my life would be different if he lived.

I wondered how my mom's life would have changed.

Weiss placed a hand over mine and added a small smile to her comforting gesture. "Ruby, Ein is going to be furless at this rate."

Her eyes pointed down and mine followed.

Ein had been going through a very traumatizing experience. Some of his synthetic fibre were coming loose after my mindless plucking.

"Sorry…" I muttered.

Weiss had released my hand when I finally stopped. I gave up the stuff animal to Weiss, and she combed through his fur.

"Your mother is a strong woman." Her eyes never left Ein as she continued to pick off the loose strings on him. "She raised you on her own rather than letting the grief and the hardship take control of her life. That, itself, is amazing."

A sliver of a proud smile lifted my lips when I began to think about how much my mom sacrificed for me.

"Yeah…"

"Sometimes I wish my mother was that strong." I saw Weiss slump forward when she talked about it. "When life got too hard, she resorted to depressants rather than tackling it head on."

"Depressants?" I asked.

"Glass of wine here. A glass of wine there. A bottle..." Weiss stopped when she realized there was no point on emphasizing it anymore. She sighed afterwards. "Eventually, she got the escape she selfishly wanted; it took away her life."

I watched how Weiss tightened her grip on Ein when she spoke candidly. I scooted a seat cushion closer and put an arm around her shoulder to give a side hug.

Weiss shifted in her seat to lean into my comfort.

"Sorry," she apologized when I didn't know what for. "I didn't mean to unload this onto you."

"I kind of did the same thing to you," I let out a gentle laugh to let her know she had done no harm. Something popped in my head, and Weiss noticed considering how I had brightened up.

"You know… If you ever need someone to talk to or the next time you feel alone, just give me a call!"

"A call?" Weiss parroted. She reached my gaze in surprise. When the suggestion sank in, she stifled a laugh.

"What's so funny?"

"Shouldn't I be the one saying that considering you're usually by yourself?"

I unhooked my arm around her and grinned ear to ear when the mood elevated.

"Minor details!" I waved in dismissal.

She looked at me skeptically. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I want to do it," I spoke from my heart. "Just give me a call, then whoosh!" I waved my hand to give it more effect, and my smile turned soft. "I'll come flying to you with a semblance of speed while wearing a red cape."

A rare, tender smile appeared on her face, and it gave me an unexpected rush of warmth.

"Promise?" She stared into me searching for any lies behind those words, but I knew she would never find any.

I crossed my heart and held out my pinky for her to intertwine.

"Promise."


	67. Chapter 67: Weiss

_**Weiss**_

Saturday mornings were the best time to go grocery shopping. Local markets offered weekly deals on fresh produce, and it beat the crowd later in the afternoon.

Winter and I could survive a few more days without restocking the fridge and pantry, but it would be inconvenient to go during the school day.

I grabbed whatever I needed from the shelves while roaming through the aisles of the store. Coincidentally down the same section, I perked up in surprise to someone familiar trying to decide one brand of commodity versus the other. Even though her back was turned towards me, I could recognize that unique, crimson hair anywhere.

"Ruby," I hollered to grab her attention.

A few customers shopping in the same aisle jerked their eyes towards me, however, the person who I was trying to call didn't turn around. I figured she must have not heard my voice.

I strode down towards her general direction with my basket in tow and called out her name again.

"Ruby."

She still didn't register her own name, and my lips pressed into a thin frown.

How was it possible for one person to be deeply engrossed in shopping and not pay attention to their surroundings at the same time?

Approaching closer with a sigh slipping from my tongue, I tapped on her shoulder.

"Ruby," I said more firmly. She _finally_ spun around and — _oh_ … This was definitely not Ruby.

Her appearance looked strikingly similar to Ruby's, but this was _definitely_ an older woman. She stared at me blankly before offering an awkward smile. Meanwhile, I stared back in mortification. A swirl of heat rose to my cheeks at the horribly embarrassing situation, and I profusely apologized.

"I-I am so, so sorry ma'am. I mistook you for a friend of mine."

"No worries." She placed down one item back onto the shelf and frantically waved in dismiss, hoping it would make this less uncomfortable.

It didn't, because I still wanted to crawl under a rock and die. The most rational plan I could scrape together in this type of situation was to leave — turn my tail and never, _ever_ come back to this local grocery market in fear of seeing this person again. Before I planned to do just that, someone came sliding across the tiled floor from the other aisle.

"Hey mom? The beef is not on sale, so I got chicken. Also, do we need — Huh? Weiss?"

I raised my eyebrows in bewilderment. "Ruby?"

We exchanged pensive looks and my eyes darted between the older woman and Ruby. A light bulb went off in my head when I made the obvious connection, but I hid it under a straight face.

"You're here to shop too, Weiss?" Ruby smiled after loading things onto her shared cart.

"Yes, I normally shop on Saturdays."

"Is that so? Oh, mom! This is my friend, Weiss. Weiss, this is my mom." Ruby excitedly introduced us to each other.

Her mother stifled a giggle and kindly offered a smile that was less awkward than the first. "It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too, um… Mrs. Rose." I politely extended a hand in which she gladly shook. Her palm was callus compared to the wealthy elites in the uppermost class of Atlas. There was an absence of ring on her finger, I noticed, however, I thoughtfully kept it to myself and did not correct how I addressed her. "Again, I'm sorry about earlier…"

"Did I miss something?" Ruby droned in confusion, tilting her head to the side.

"Oh, your friend mistaken me for you," Mrs. Rose explained with a lighthearted laugh.

Taken aback, Ruby darted an offended expression towards my way, and I shrunk my head apologetically. Great, now Ruby knows. This was so embarrassing.

"I am not old and wrink —"

"What was that again?" Her mother yanked her daughter's ear.

"Moom!" Ruby whined. "Ow! My ear! Not the ear!"

I quietly giggled off to the side when Ruby's mother decided to tug her ear again. As I watched them playfully banter back and forth, I recalled Ruby mention about how perfectly close she was with her mother from our conversation that dated back days ago.

I was happy for her that the distance didn't wedge them apart. I would hate to see her relationship become anything similar to my father and I. It made my stomach coil just thinking about.

"Weiss, would you like to have lunch with us?" Mrs. Rose knocked me from my wandering thoughts.

"Oh." She had caught me off guard with the invitation, but I quickly and politely put up a smile. "I do not want to intrude."

"Nonsense," Mrs. Rose waved off. "I'm positive my daughter has caused you some trouble."

"Me?!" Ruby pointed at herself in disbelief.

Her mother ignored her and continued on. "I'm certain you have stories of her mischief to tell as well."

"Mischief?!" Ruby questioned incredulously.

"Oh! We can also look at Ruby's baby picture!" Her mother clasped her hands together, lighting up at her own suggestion. Hand hovering over my mouth, I covered a laugh. "Oh that's such a wonderful — "

"Horrible," Ruby sharply cut in. "Very horrible idea. Right Weiss?"

She pleaded with those large, round eyes, praying I would decline her mother's offer. Again, I gave Mrs. Rose one of my most polite, respectful smiles, and Ruby's face contorted into absolute horror. Several years of practiced smiles, Ruby was one of the very few who saw the smirk underneath.

"I'd love to join you and Ruby for lunch, Mrs. Rose."


	68. Chapter 68: Ruby

_**Ruby**_

"Welcome to our humble abode!" I stretched my arms in a theatrical manner with bags of groceries looped around them.

Weiss took off her shoes before stepping inside. "Thank you for inviting me in. Um… May I leave these in your fridge? I'm afraid they cannot be left out in room temperature for too long."

"Of course!" My mom said warmly. "The kitchen is straight ahead." Weiss took off towards the direction of where my mom pointed. The second Weiss was no longer in sight, my mom pulled me close within whispering range. "Your friend is so well spoken and polite. I like her!"

I smiled.

"Same."

My word intended to have a deeper meaning, but I believed my mom didn't catch it. We strode into the kitchen, and I laid out the groceries onto the table.

"Ruby, while I prepare lunch, why don't you give Weiss a tour?"

"Sure thing, mom."

"Mrs. Rose, do you need help preparing?" Weiss asked courteously. "I don't mind helping around. It's the least I can do."

"Thank you, Weiss." Mom smiled appreciatively. "That is very kind of you. As much as I would love your help, I think Ruby would be bored from watching us. Is it too much to ask you to entertain her instead?"

"Mom is trying to say that I can't cook," I phrased it bluntly for her.

"You can't cook?" Weiss pulled her face back in disbelief.

"I can cook to some degree..."

"She can't cook," my mom butted in.

"Mom!" I shot a look of betrayal when she was embarrassing me in front of the person I liked. Worst unintended wing woman ever! "Come on, Weiss." I took her by the arm and dragged her out of the kitchen before my mom said anything more embarrassing.

"You know," Weiss laughed behind a hand. "It's okay to not know how to cook."

"Says you," I mumbled, dropping her wrist after we exited the kitchen. I could see my Weiss-less future now — getting dumped by my future significant other because I couldn't cook for my life.

"I guess you'll just have to find someone who knows how." Weiss stepped past me with a playful smile. She curiously walked around the living room and admired the picture frames on the stands. "Is this your father?"

I popped next to her and glanced at what she was pointing at. "Yeah, apparently that's him. He looks a bit scruffy."

"Kind of like you…"

"Thank you?" I wasn't sure if that was a compliment.

"In a good way," she added later. With a hum, she skimmed through the row of pictures but backpedaled to one specific frame. "Umm… What happened here?" She picked up the photo from the stand and showed it to me.

It was a photo snapshot that had gone wrong during picture day in primary school. The photographer had _impeccable_ timing and precisely captured the moment I sneezed. One could see the layers of turkey flaps underneath my chin, the difference in eye size when they tried to squeeze shut, and my face peeled back unattractively.

I recalled my mom bursting into a fit of laughter after the photos were developed, and she decided to purchase the entire packet of photos. She then flaunted it to all her friends and to our relatives. Aunt Raven had a field day.

"Picture day," I replied flatly.

Weiss examined the photo and started to crack up. "Oh my god, really?" She laughed. "This is you?"

"Yep." I crossed my arms, smiling.

"This is _actually_ you?" Weiss tried to modestly hide her laughter behind a dainty hand.

"Yep. If you look closely, I'm missing a front tooth."

" _Oh._ You _definitely_ are!"

It took a whole minute for Weiss to stop giggling. Once she sort of settled down, she took another long look at the photo and burst into laughter within seconds.

"I know. I am _very_ attractive," I plucked the frame from her hands and carefully placed it back on the stand.

"I'm sorry," she wheezed. "But yes, you are very attractive."

I blushed at her compliment but took it as sarcasm. "I'll show you my room. Come on."

Crossing through the living room, I showed Weiss where the bathroom was and led her to my room.

"This is… Quaint." Weiss stepped in and inspected my simple room. Posters were plastered all over my wall and a lot of knick knacks sat on my table. "I can't believe you keep a television in your room."

"So I can binge or play games in bed. The best way to spend a lazy day is in bed!"

"I can see that."

"Want to play some video games?" I picked up a console controller just in case she didn't understand what I meant. Judging by the expression on her face, she seemed to get the idea.

"I have never played console games before. What do you have?"

Turning the game station and the television screen on, I threw myself onto my own bed. Weiss searched for a comfortable spot to sit, but I patted the spot next to me. She sat down by my side on my bed with her legs spread forward.

"What do you like?" I flipped through the many games I had already downloaded into the console.

"I'm not sure…" Weiss examined the list curiously.

"How about you pick something that strikes your fancy." I passed her the main controller. She took it tentatively and scrolled through the list.

Her knee nudged against mine. "Hey, what's this?"

"It's about an FBI and her team trying to apprehend a serial killer who is terrorizing the city. It's supposed to be a mystery game."

"Is it scary?"

I shrugged. "Maybe. I haven't gotten very far into it."

"How about this?"

"A role playing game. In the middle of a major battle, an adventurer somehow gets thrown into an alternative world in a body that is not her own."

"And this?"

"Uh... That's uh... That's a dating sim," I admitted quietly.

"What is that?"

"Nothing interesting..." I said in a very drawn out bored tone. I slapped on a frown to sell it. Hopefully, it was convincing enough. I figured an age inappropriate game was the last thing Weiss would want to play. "You definitely won't like it! Skip to the next one."

"Ohh... Okay."


	69. Chapter 69: Weiss

_**Weiss**_

"Weiss… What are you doing?" Ruby racked up the courage to question my gameplay.

"I-I... _Really_ don't know. Am I playing this right?"

"To be honest, no."

"Why is the only thing I see is grass?"

"It's a first person shooter. You messed up your camera so bad that you had your person staring at the floor all the time."

"Oh. How do I fix this?"

"Here." Those delicate fingers reached over to mine and walked me through it. I stiffened at the unfamiliar contact and looked sideways at Ruby. She was oblivious, or preoccupied with the camera adjustments. Most likely the latter. Something fluttering stirred inside. I stared at the hand that was guiding me through the game, trying to fathom what it was.

I must be overthinking.

"Better right?" Ruby sat back after correcting the camera angles.

We were finally looking at tattered buildings, overturned cars caught on fire, the sky filled with billows of smoke — basically what you would imagine a city that got caught in a war zone.

"Moving your character around is tricky," she explained. "You can think of it as this way: the left stick moves the legs and the right stick moves where you want to see."

"Okay…" I tried combining the two together and it resulted into jagged, awkward movements. I made improvements, but it wasn't much better.

"Try shooting now."

I did as I was told. I lined the crosshair to some soldier that had a green fine print above its head and opened fire.

"Weiss!" Ruby gasped. "That's your teammate!"

Too late. The soldier laid dead on the floor, bleeding excessively, in this high definition television.

"Wait, what?" I had a dumb look on my face. "Doesn't green means go? Like as in, go and shoot?"

"Weiss," Ruby reared her head back, her eyes studying me strangely. "People aren't traffic lights. Green is a symbol for allies while red mean enemies."

"Oh…" I shrunk in her bed at the new knowledge. "Let's try a new game."

"Agree." Ruby closed the application and moved on to a game that she thought I would enjoy. "Let's try this one. The objective is to go through the level while trying to survive from monsters. We can take turns by passing the controller each time someone dies."

That did sound simple enough to play for a beginner like me.

"Alright then. If you don't mind, I would like to start first."

Ruby laughed and tossed the controller onto my lap. "Sure. You're going to die in the first few steps anyways."

"You're suppose to support me," I huffed.

"Woo, yeah! Go Weiss," she cheered on a whim.

The loading screen faded to black and the stage loaded into a very retro looking platform game. The game introduced a pudgy plumber whose objective was to save the frilly damsel in distress from a demonic turtle.

The level started off as a choppy, blue sky zone with a bunch of floating blocks that defied the laws of gravity.

"Alright, Weiss. Move your character."

"The left stick right?"

"Yep."

The character awkwardly twitched his way across the screen and encountered his first obstacle.

"What's this pudding with legs?" I asked as I controlled the protagonist to approach closer.

"Don't touch — "

The short, pudgy protagonist flew off the screen upon direct contact with said two-legged pudding. The number of lives dwindled from three to two.

This game made no logical sense. How in the world did a man get bested by a blob?

"Yeah… That's an evil mushroom… You're supposed to jump on that. Press this button to jump and squish them."

" _Now_ you tell me?"

"Oops," Ruby giggled.

"I get another chance," I humphed.

"Fine by me," she held her hands up to let me have at it another time. It didn't take long for me to lose another life. My gaming coordination was _very_ poor.

Scowling, I tossed the controller onto Ruby's lap. "Your turn."

"Aww someone is bitter," she nudged me on the shoulder in which I promptly nudged in return.

"He should abandon this hopeless mission while he still retain his two lives."

"It's hopeless if you're playing," she poked back.

From a spectator perspective, I could tell Ruby have played this game before. She demolished every pixelated block and trampled every pudding monster that she came across. The pudgy protagonist raced through the map and crossed a flag pole victoriously under Ruby's guidance.

"Victory!"

I jolted up when Ruby suddenly tossed the controller onto my lap. She was pumping her arms up and down like a champion after she rubbed a toothy grin at my way. I took it as a challenge.

"I'll be claiming the next victory flag."

"Not if I claim it first," she wiggled her eyebrows. "I'll let you have the honor of dying again."

In the next stage, the protagonist continued his perilous journey and entered an underground sewer that more or less looked like a cavern.

"Is that suppose to be a hole in the ground?" I squinted at the television screen to get a better look. The platform ahead was missing a couple of blocks.

"Jump over it. If you fall in, you lose a life."

I led the main character closer to the edge and carefully timed the jump. The protagonist slipped to his doom from my poorly timed leap, and the life countdown dropped from two to one.

"No way." My jaw fell open. "I _pressed_ the jump button!"

Ruby choked out a laugh. "Noob."

"How can that be?!"

"You died~." Ruby kept her voice in an insufferable tune. The controller had slipped from my hands when she plucked it out.

"Redo," I insisted, reaching over to take the controller back.

"Nope," Ruby held it out of my reach.

"Come on."

"Nope."

"One more time."

"Nope."

"Please?"

"Are you addicted?"

"No," I denied. My hand trying to seize the controller didn't help my argument.

"Sure…" She refused to give it up.

"One chance."

"Nope."

"Just one."

"Nope."

"One."

"Nope."

"I won't die."

"Uhh.. Nope."

"I'll beat this level. The button was stuck."

"N-Nope."

Time for countermeasures.

"Ruby." I batted my eyelashes, hoping she would succumb to my pleads.

Ruby gulped. "U-Um W-Weiss."

It's working.

"I-I'll be happy to give you the controller, but you might wanna…" She cut off right there to let me figure out the rest.

It wasn't difficult to guess what she was trying to say. My body froze above Ruby and my heart raced faster at our _new_ position. I sprung backwards to the end of her bed and attempted to hide the reddening blush on my face behind a clumsy hand.

Oh my god.

I _crawled_ on top of Ruby without thinking.

Eyes wide with shock, we stared at each other until I finally sputtered something out.

"I-I'm so sorry, Ruby! I-I didn't… I wasn't trying—"

"I-It's alright!" Ruby sat up after I practically topped her. She offered up an uncertain smile while she rubbed the back of her neck. Her eyes averted away from me. "You just wanted to play more. There wasn't any… Um…" She went quiet.

Meaning behind that.

There was a prick in my chest when I finished her sentence in my thoughts.

"I think my mom finished making lunch," she came up quickly. "Let's go check."

I had never seen Ruby shot out from the bed and scurried out the door. Unraveling my tangled thoughts, I buried my face into my palms.

I-I can't be…


End file.
